World of Warcraft Halo
by Freedom Guard
Summary: As the title states, this is a crossover with WOW and Halo, The Master Chief is now in Azeroth, how will the Alliance and the Horde deal with a warrior from the Stars and his A.I Companion? Story is now being Thawed slowly...
1. Chapter 1

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Bungie or Blizzard so don't ask me if I own either.

Prologue

Who are you?

( ): Thoughts

….

Author's Notes:

This is my newest attempt in crossing over another series that you normally would not think would work, Halo with World of Warcraft, this idea has been in my coconut for a while and decided to update it and see how it would do in the scene and I have to admit this will be fun. Now most guys would wonder if this was possible and even I had to wonder about this as well, but if they were able to include the Master Chief's armor (though not the same league), his energy sword, Assault Rifle, and his name in Fable 2, why not here?

Anyway, this is merely the prologue so don't be too quick to judge this as it's still a work in progress.

….

In deep space…

Cortana was currently in her state of suspended animation though she managed to keep her array of limited but thankfully still sensors operational to keep a good eye on things while the Master Chief slept before her. She managed to keep track of the time and knew that it had been at least three to four months since the final battle there on the Ark with the Gravemind, the Covenant Loyalists, the Flood, and the Prophet of Truth. It was all over, and now they were floating in space inside the Forward Unto Dawn awaiting rescue.

She naturally had her doubts but placed them aside for now as she had other matters to think of, she recalled her promise to help protect him from harm and keep him safe without compromising her loyalty to the UNSC and Humanity. It was something that helped her keep herself together when she had been trapped in High Charity for a long time and it helped her pull herself together at the last moment when she felt herself nearly give in to the despair she felt when he came to rescue her.

Cortana had decided to file away good portion of her data stores for now, the data on the Forerunners, the Flood, The Halo Array, and anything else that would be better kept stored someplace else to free up more room in her system. That had been demanding for her as she had limited power supplies to work with and some of the data archive banks on the still intact Forward Unto Dawn were filled with other types of information, so she had to be selective of which data she needed to keep and needed to get rid of. With that done, she felt herself be a lot more able to operate and not be burdened with too much data for now. As she rested she made sure to keep some of her core systems online to keep watch over the area as well as John as he lay there sleeping. He had a lot of injuries but he was tougher than he looked and made of stern stuff which was why she knew he would be fine.

That certainly didn't mean that she was going to be lax in keeping a close eye on him though as she rested for the time being.

However, as she recorded the movements of the ruined Frigate through the void of space, something tripped her sensors and she quickly woke herself up from her hibernation and began to gather the information that was coming in from the sensors. Apparently there was a planet nearby and from what she could gather it was a habitable one, and it was having some strange energy readings below it.

The UNSC A.I wondered on her options, with the Dawn the way it was, there was no way that they were heading back to Earth any time soon, so she had to make a snap decision on how to best proceed on this situation. The frigate was very much their only way to be rescued by a ship, but without any contact from incoming ships, they could be stuck there for who knew how long.

On the surface of this unknown world, they would be able to find supplies, and be in a more stable location to establish contact and initiate rescue, however that presented risks. There was no telling if the species that called the location home would be hospitable or hostile, if they spotted John and found her, who knew what would happen. However, from what she had been able to piece together from what she had been able to scan, they didn't have much in terms of choices for now. On the surface, at least they were able to set up a base camp and then make a rudimentary COM system to call for help and being in a set location was far better than drifting about in space for who knew how long.

She brought herself back to full status and decided to have a full run through of the supplies and equipment onboard the Forward Unto Dawn before making her choice and waking up the Spartan who had been her protector for years, they were going to need all they could get in order to survive in this new world. She also needed to find a good place to land the Frigate when given the chance.

As she ran through the data stores, she also gathered what data she could of the planet, there appeared to be three large continents, one was an icy location and the other two were on either side of the said ice continent, she also spotted a massive storm cell there, what surprised her was that the storm cell in question dwarfed anything on record on such storm cells and didn't seem to be moving, the other two continents were fairly balanced in appearance and environment, perfect for habitation. Not only that, she had determined that the power sources she was picking up were genuine and not 'ghost images' on her scanners.

Once she had done a full inventory check on the Forward Unto Dawn's supplies and equipment that remained, she decided to wake up John, she knew that they would have a lot of things to do before they were going to the planet.

She quickly activated the low level systems online while making sure to check her Spartan's vital signs and make sure that he was not too badly injured in his time in cryo-stasis. As soon as the systems were online, she began to undergo the procedure while checking John's vitals, happy that his vital signs were all green and in good condition, she looked to see the pod open and out came the massive wave of freezing gases and soon she waited for John to wake up.

She didn't have to wait for long as John began to move a bit slowly showing that he was finally waking up from his slumber in the pod. And from what she could see, he was doing all right for now.

As for John, he opened his eyes just as the MJOLNIR's OS began to activate the systems, he made a quick systems check and saw that despite the damage his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor had sustained in the battles he had been in after escaping from the Dreadnaught, it was still very much in good condition. He quickly ran a much needed full systems diagnostic to be on the safe side and as soon as that was done, he moved out of the pod slowly as the lack of gravity kicked in and he floated towards the holo-tank towards Cortana.

"Enjoyed the shut eye?"

John smirked a bit inside his helmet at the smile on Cortana's face, he then noticed that she looked a bit different, a bit lighter in shade in her usual color design and seemed to be a bit more stable, he was quick to comment on those said changes.

"You look to be all right."

"Yeah, placed aside a lot of the data I stored to free up some processing space, feels a lot better on my system to."

"So I see….something wrong?"

Cortana was quick to fill the Master Chief in on what she had found and the Spartan was quick to listen in on what she was able to tell him. He was not entirely pleased by the fact that they had not been rescued as of yet, but seeing that they didn't much options at the moment, couldn't argue, besides, being in one location would give them a chance to establish a base of operations and be able to send out communications to passing by ships instead of drifting around space and landing who knows where, well away from any passing shipping lanes.

With their options weighed, the Spartan decided that they were going to have to chance the landing on the planet, he moved to get his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle from the weapon rack and moved to grab another floating weapon, a fully loaded M6G Magnum, checking both guns and seeing that they were in good working order, he placed them on his back and right thigh and made his way through the ship after placing Cortana back into his Armor by sliding her data chip into the back of his head. As soon as he got to one of the Dawn's armory stations, he quickly began to gather what he needed, spare packs of ammunition, spare weapons, communications gear, medical supplies and some needed rations.

As soon as he was able to get enough of the supplies, he made a quick trip to a nearby section where the ODST HEV pods were stationed. He quickly began to load one of the pods with the supplies, weapons, communications gear, and spare ammunition. Once that was done, he made it to a nearby HEV to see if it was also usable, finding it to be more than ready for use, he moved back to the armory station to get anything else he would need with him apart from what he already had on him.

He managed to take a SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle with all the needed ammunition as well as a spare Energy Sword, apparently the Arbiter had left this behind as he had other spare swords and weapons to choose from, no sense not bringing this along in his mind and he knew just how potent this weapon was. After all, he had been on the receiving end of this weapon more times that he dared to count and had used this on a few occasions and while he was more accustomed to fighting in long range, he was no slouch in using this weapon if it was needed for him to go close range.

He placed the weapon on his back and decided to carry a Combat Knife as well in a metallic sheath on his left thigh and with those weapons on, he made sure to grab enough supplies for himself in his own HEV, while he was doing those things, he was talking to Cortana to figure out the plans they would need to finalize if they were going to get down to the ground.

"So how are we going to make sure that the Dawn will land in one piece?"

"I am planning to angle the Dawn to make sure that it's still intact armor plating will be able to have a significantly better chance of avoiding being burned badly by atmospheric re-entry. The super structure might be badly damaged, but it will be strong enough for both re-entry and landing. The angle will also prevent the cut sections from being exposed which could result in massive damage to the core systems and room."

"What about the rest of the ship's internal systems?"

"I plan to seal off the core sections and lock down the important areas of the ship. The blast doors have enough power to do so since despite the low power supplies there is enough residual power from the Fusion Reactors to do all the sealing."

John nodded at that as he ran through his inventory for the last time and then began to type in a command sequence into the other HEV to make it open only when he would be the one to type in a special code command into a hidden console. The HEVs would be key to his operations there on the planet once he hit the ground of the unknown world. Once everything was ready, he got into the HEV and Cortana was the one who made the calculations and as soon as she gave the signal, the Master Chief activated the deploy order and soon, all he felt was the sudden release of the clamps that held the HEV and soon he was shooting out of the Dawn just as Cortana fired a small but powerful satellite drone from the Dawn to act as their eyes and ears in space.

The Satellite was armed with a solar power cell and recharging system so it was not in need of refueling and had onboard computers for maintaining it's functions while the Spartan and the A.I were on the surface and would relay information to them easily enough.

He looks at the Dawn through the monitors as the half of the Frigate began to reach the atmosphere of the planet, he looked as the deep orange glow as well as the bright streaks that showed that the Frigate had now made contact with outer area of the Atmosphere while he and the other HEV were already moving past it and into the atmosphere. Despite the considerable heat shielding, the Spartan had no doubt that the heat outside of his HEV was more than enough to fry a human in nano-seconds and melt regular metal into nothing. He was not frightened at all as he had done this before and that had been many times as well in his long career as a Spartan II, but he knew the stories involved with HEV deployment.

HEVs were the ODSTs best way to deploy onto a planet's surface, carrying enough supplies, spare weapons, a radio, portable power supply, and can serve as a shelter if necessary. Other dedicated variants can also have a lot of other items and equipment needed for commando operations as well as command and control operations. However these were notorious for failures, if the Pod had been damaged before or during re-entry then the ceramic skin plating would fail, along with the Lead Foil in a spectacular and violent fashion and the occupant would be cooked alive in the intense heat that was to come. Another way the Pod would fail was a malfunction in the onboard computer which could make the outer plating chute release prematurely, causing the pod to accelerate to the point that the person dies or loses consciousness from the excessive G-forces, the next was the failure of the computer to control the booster rockets used for controlled deceleration, causing them to fail and crash hard.

ODSTs feared this kind of death as it was like digging your own grave, and he had heard stories of HEVs smashing into lakes, rivers, mountain sides and more besides. That was why he was very careful when he selected the HEVs he was going to use. Cortana was currently handling this part of the mission and he left it into her hands.

….

On the surface of the planet…

A lush forest filled with trees, grass and the like was enjoying what would have been a quiet night…

The screaming arrival of a pair of UNSC HEVs was going to change all that.

The first Pod smashed a good distance away from the other pod and landed a very fair distance south of it, crashing near a lake, the other pod smashed through a nearby series of branches, the wood being reduced into splinters in mere moments as the HEV crashed with a resounding thud. As soon as the dust began to settle, the HEV seemed to cool as smoke surrounded it briefly, after a few moments, a massive hissing sound was heard and the door blew off from the HEV, the released door was sent flying right into a large boulder and smashed the rock hard, breaking off several parts of it through sheer force.

As soon as that was over, the Spartan stood up from the crash seat and began to take stock of his surroundings, while Cortana did her usual scanning of the entire area to see just what it was she could find that John might miss, and she was seeing a good deal.

"Nice….the trees are huge around here, almost the same height as some of the trees back on Reach and some of the colony worlds. Plus I'm picking up massive energy waves and readings, some of them or rather nearly all of them don't seem to match to anything I have on record."

The Spartan looked the place over once more, scanning for threats and as soon as he was in the clear, he moved out of the pod and loosened the Sniper Rifle from it's rack and took the ammunition packs and stored them away in the containers on his MJOLNIR. Once he was assured that he had a full combat load for his weapons, he moved out, but not before getting to stripping the pod of supplies and equipment. It took less time due to his enhancements and soon the HEV was stripped of anything that could be of use, he then placed the supplies into a rucksack and placed it on his back while using the nearby magnetic plate on the rucksack to hold his MA5C.

With that done, he spoke to Cortana as he looked to see the fiery entry of the frigate a very large distance away from them.

"How far are we from the Dawn?"

"Hold on….getting the data now, we're a good two thousand eight hundred kilometers and it's near the coastline at some slight hilly terrain, I can bet that our little entrance didn't go unnoticed by the natives on this planet."

"Right, and the other HEV?"

"At least a full two hundred kilometers from our current position, it's not been tampered as of yet and it's in a valley of sorts near a rock face. I suppose we need to head that way right?"

"Roger."

With that the Spartan moved out, carrying the massive Sniper Rifle ahead of him and moving through the undergrowth and trees, his senses fully attuned to the environment and focused on locating open and covert threats. After all, with no known data on this world, he would have to be extremely cautious in his movements through the place.

As the Spartan moved through the foliage, he was quick to pick up several contacts behind him as his Motion Tracker was more than enough to pick up movement, however, they were not showing up as hostiles as they seemed to be intent on keeping a fair distance from him at this moment and his sensors had not picked up weapon impacts on his shields or the MJOLNIR itself. Cortana was quick to pick them and she spoke to him.

"Looks like we're not alone."

"Right, they don't seem hostile for the moment, but that could change easily enough."

The Spartan decided to let the group following him alive for the moment, whoever they were, they were trying their best to keep a good distance from him, no doubt trying to determine him if he was to be considered a threat or a curiosity. As much as he wanted to turn about and face these would be trackers, he decided to pretend to not notice them and let them continue. This way he would be able to use his MJOLNIR's built in sensors and systems to keep an eye on them.

Of course he naturally turned about every now and then, doing so made them stop and spread out in a pattern he recognized as an evasion and concealment maneuver. Whoever they were, they had a good grasp of military tactics and were doing their best to keep themselves out of his sight, not that it was going to do them much good.

Apart from enhancing a Spartan II's already deadly eye sight, showing equipment status, linking to the Spartan's Neural Interface, the helmet of the MJOLNIR Mark VI was armed with thermal and motion sensors, as well as build in binoculars, solar powered flashlight, filters for hostile environments, built in air supply for EVA work and maneuvers, and more besides. This was why he was able to spot his trackers easily enough. He could see them through the thermal systems though he couldn't get a visual on them as they remained hidden in the undergrowth. As far as he could tell, their body temperatures were around human temperatures though with some slight differences, and judging by their numbers, they appeared to be in a group numbering a dozen and a half or so.

Cortana then commented as they turned about and moved on, allowing their trackers to keep moving.

"They don't seem interested in attacking you yet, if they were part of the Covenant, they would have just attacked us already."

"I guess. Still, we don't know who or what they are so no sense not taking precautions."

Cortana smiled at that and then she spoke.

"Hold up, I think they are talking to one another. I can intercept them and hear what they're saying."

….

The other party…

"By Elune's grace…what is he?"

The people following the Spartan as he moved through the underbrush were the Kal'dorei or the Children of the Stars, but to the residents of the lands of Kalimdor as well as Azeroth and those of both the Alliance and Horde races, they were the Night Elves. They had lived in these lands for millennia and have taken part in what was the Third War, they had once fought both the Alliance and the Horde when both factions came to the shores of Kalimdor, but then joined their sides in a fight to ensure the survival of their people when the Burning Legion had arrived to finish what they had begun all those centuries before. After the war, the Night Elves formed an alliance with the forces of the Humans, the Gnomes, and the Dwarves for mutual defense and also for survival.

While many of the more traditional Night Elves disliked working with the younger races, those in the Sisterhood of Elune, their governing body sees this alliance as a chance to defend their people until they recovered, having lost many of their kin during the Third War. And while they were aware that not everyone in the Alliance trusted them, they were willing to overlook it to make sure that they were able to ensure the survival of their race as a whole.

This group tracking the Master Chief was a band of Sentinels, the military arm of the Night Elf race and they were comprised of a number of Third War veterans so they were very wary of new comers. With them were a number of Druids who were to serve as support and healers for the group as well. They had seen everything that had to be seen in this world, but now they were tracking something that defied everything that they had ever seen before in their long lives.

They had been on patrol when they spotted a massive flaming star come down hard a good distance from them and spotted two more heading in another direction, as soon as the three objects hit the ground, they were shocked by the impact, the impact from the massive one was enough to be felt even from their distance though it was not powerful enough to rival an earthquake, they had no idea what was going on, but one of the Druids, a Druid of the Claw decided that they should check on the smaller ones and find out what they were first to figure out if these were from the Burning Legion.

They found the first and to their surprise it was not an Infernal as some of them feared, in fact, it wasn't emanating a single shred of Fel Energy at all. It resembled a strange egg like object with four tall spikes on the top, and what appeared to be glass on one area. They had no idea what it was but they quickly tensed up when it suddenly cracked in some areas to release smoke. The area there with the glass suddenly fired outwards. in a loud crash…

And then out came a massive behemoth of a being before their shocked eyes…even though they had seen many horrors and wonders over the years, the sight of this being before them was unlike anything the Night Elves had ever seen before in their lives. It looked human but it had green and black skin that after a closer look resembled armor and a golden face plate that hid anything from their eyes.

They managed to keep their distance from the being as they watched it strip that metallic object with ease and the move out, when it turned to look at their direction, they quickly hid themselves from sight as best they could.

The leader, Kaelyn Nightwalker looked at the human shaped behemoth with absolute worry, she had NEVER seen anything like him before in her life. She had been a veteran archer and had plenty of experience fighting not just the humans, their allies, the Orcs and their own allies, but also the Burning Legion's minions, and had seen a lot ever since the end of the Third War….but this massive human sized being in what appeared to be armor that she didn't recognize beat anything she had seen in her life.

And those weapons he had on him were unlike anything she had seen before as well, they easily resembled the guns she had seen the other races of the Alliance and the Horde would carry, but these looked completely different. She turned to one of her followers and spoke.

"Have you seen anything like that before?"

"No sister….even I have never seen it before, can it be a new type of demon from the Legion's ranks?"

One of the Druids shook his head.

"No…he's not releasing any Fel energy from his form, such energies would have tripped our senses and also damaged the land as he moves through them."

"But how can we be sure? We have no idea just how many other minions the Legion has on their side, and this could be one of them."

Another Druid shook his head.

"I doubt it….I have seen the Legion's agents use weapons before such as guns with infernal magic….those this giant carries don't match them at all."

Kaelyn weighed their options and decided that they will have to keep track of this new arrival, and if it was a threat, they were going to have to try and stop it from reaching their villages, though she had her doubts on how she and her veteran allies would be able to fight this massive being before them. She however knew her duties well and she was not in the mood to make any mistakes with such an unknown being. She took out her bow and moved for her group to continue tracking the green and black armored giant.

While they followed the Spartan, conversations were still flying about between them on what they would have to do with this new possible threat.

"We need to alert the others about this being quickly."

"True, but we have to be careful, this being is unknown to us at the moment, and attacking it might turn out to be a mistake."

Several more discussions were flying between the Night Elves which were kept hushed so as not to attract the attention of the being they were tracking. All the while, Kaelyn was still trying her best to weigh in her options on how to deal with this new being. Should she approach with peaceful intentions? Attack quickly and hope that she and her party could slay it before it became a threat? Observe it's progress and hope that it steered clear of the settlements? So many thoughts ran through the Night Elf's head as she kept her eyes dead center on her quarry.

Every so often, the group stopped talking when The Spartan turned to look around, hoping to avoid him and when he moved, they would talk again to determine their course of action while trying to find anything to determine just who and what was this stranger.

….

Unknown to the Night Elves, their supposedly hushed and private conversations was already being listened to by their quarry.

The MJOLNIR Mark VI had remarkable sensor systems as was needed for the kinds of battles that the Spartan IIs would be taking part in. And the auditory sensors were part of it, being able to filter out ambient noises to focus on specific ones was an advantage that the Spartan IIs took full advantage of in all of their battles with the Covenant. Being able to hear a water droplet hitting the sandy floor of a desert in a sandstorm was a deadly advantage when it came to avoiding ambushes.

John himself had above average hearing and while that could have been augmented, the scientists and Dr. Halsey agreed that doing it would have been counter-productive and otherwise very dangerous as a sensitive ear would have been a major weakness in the massive chaos of a fire fight as that would weaken the Spartans' concentration and leave them vulnerable. That and the fact that the MJOLNIR was more than able to handle that department was why augmented hearing was not given to the Spartans.

The conversations coming from his trackers told the Spartan that the beings were intelligent enough, having such articulate and high level communication skills, he could also tell from the tones and pitches that the group was co-gender with a mix of male and female voices. The one thing that really set him on edge was the fact that their language was unlike anything he had heard of as the Night Elves were speaking in their native dialect Darnassian which was totally foreign to the Spartan and his A.I companion.

"Cortana, can you translate what they are saying?"

The A.I listened in and after a few moments, she replied.

"Negative John, their language is completely foreign to me, it matches nothing in the UNSC database or even that of the Covenant so I can't translate it, whoever they are, they are certainly an unrecorded race."

John did not like that; this was a First Contact situation for sure. Here he was with Cortana on an unknown world with unknown beings tracking him. They were certainly not of the Covenant Separatists or the Loyalists since the first group would have revealed themselves to him to aid him in some fashion, and the second group would have just settled for killing him. And there was no way they were part of the Flood at all as the Flood wouldn't bother and just try to either convert him into one of their disgusting Combat Forms or a Command Form, and it turned his stomach a bit at the thought of being part of another born Gravemind..

Spartans were never frightened, the closest thing that matched that particular emotion was unease and the Master Chief was feeling it. He could have turned around and dealt with his pursuers easily enough, but he had to make sure that he had to make his choices clear to him. Even if he was a Spartan and his record was near spotless, he was not going to take any risk and antagonize potential allies, besides that he was alone and with limited supplies and options until he could find the other HEV that had been deployed that carried what he needed to set up for a while until he could get back to the Forward Unto Dawn.

However, the Spartan decided that now was the right time to lose his pursuers and turn the tables on them for a change. Cortana was quick to pick up on the idea and she replied to that.

"Good idea, at least we can see just who is tracking you."

With that, the Spartan was quick to take off at break neck speed through the trees, this was like a light jog for the Spartan, but the results of his sudden acceleration were startling to his pursuers.

….

"By the Goddess!"

Kaelyn and her fellow Sentinels were suddenly stunned out of their wits when the massive giant suddenly took off before their eyes with such speed and agility that was more than what they expected from such a massive and armored being. They tried to run after it but when they arrived at a nearby clearing, the massive being had just….vanished from sight. Kaelyn had no idea how to react to this sudden change and looked about briefly in absolute worry

Unknown to her and the rest of her team, they were now the ones who were being observed by the Spartan and his A.I companion. The Spartan was hiding nearby several large rocks that managed to form a fairly well hidden wall of rock with a crack in it as the Spartan looked at the Night Elves.

….

John and Cortana looked at their pursuers and the only thing that they both agreed on was this…

These were NOT Covenant.

"Who the heck are they?"

John looked at the Night Elves, trying to make sense on what the heck was he looking at, they were human sized and had the exact same body profile as humans. The Spartan however saw that they were certainly not humans as he knew his race to be, they all had purple skin though some had lighter and darker shades of the same skin color, long ears that moved backwards, different colored hair, odd tribal style markings on their faces, and glowing eyes. The men who were there had amber glowing eyes while the women had silver or light blue or teal glowing eyes as well.

The females who were there in the group appeared to be warriors, their body structure confirmed it as the Spartan looked at them intently with a soldier's eye. They had the muscle tone and structure to show combat training and the way they looked about showed their skill as trackers and archers, along with the fact that most of them carried such weapons. The Spartan also saw their armor, or what passed as armor. There was some sort of short tank top with scales that had metal rims on them, along with armored pauldrons with the same scale like design with the same metal rims around it that glittered in the moonlight as well as feathers of some bird species on them.

They also had something that resembled armored thigh and hip guards with the same scale design and had metal outer plating on them of an unknown design, they also had arm guards made from what seemed to be leather with metal guards and leg guards that ended above the knee.

The women's bows were made from a very hard type of wood and it appeared that the bows were of excellent craftsmanship and their short swords were also well made.

As for the men, they appeared to be very strong in terms of muscle structure and size, wearing leather armor from the looks of it and carrying staves with crystals and feathers, while another part of them carried what appeared to be long claws of metal or hard bone on their forearms like fist weapons. Their amber eyes glowed as they too were no doubt trying to track him down alongside their female kin.

John then spoke to Cortana.

"What exactly are we looking at?"

For once, Cortana was speechless, at least for a moment or two until she spoke.

"I'm not so sure, genetic off shoots of humans maybe, they could be mutations and the like, but I have my doubts. One thing is for sure, they are not Covenant, they aren't carrying ANYTHING that we recognize, in fact, their armor and weaponry is almost like what was used during the early 10th century B.C and A.D and onwards."

That left John with more questions than answers, but the most burning one was this.

What kind of planet did him and Cortana land in?

That idea was soon taken from his train of thought when several loud cries were heard and out of nowhere came a large number of other beings. The Spartan was quick to turn around and face them and both he and Cortana were surprised once more.

The new arrivals were certainly different from the ones they had been studying no less that a few minutes ago. They were green skinned humanoids who looked huge and were nearly as tall as John, both in and out of his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor. They appeared to have long beards and had a pair of lower tusk like teeth that jutted from their lower jaws prominently, flat noses that resembled those of pigs, and pointed ears that were like that of the previous race that the Spartan was studying yet not in the same length. While the first race was human like in form and appearance, the new group were certainly different and their choice of armor reflected that as they wore different sections of armor that were of metal and leather.

They also carried axes and spears with the former weapons looking wicked and razor sharp, and the latter looking just as deadly. The others were dressed in robes that had odd symbols on them and they seemed to have some sort of energy glowing from their hands. The next creature was huge, a two headed monster that carried a wicked club the size of a tree trunk with steel bands on it and a thick, sharpened stone head.

The one thing that John noted on the new arrivals that was common was a hammer like tattoo on their bodies and clothing as well as their armor.

Cortana was even more surprised by this as she spoke.

"Who or what are they?"

The two got the answer as one of the women warriors shouted out in what was shockingly the human language of English in Cortana's records.

"Orcs!"

One of the now identified beings roared out and raised it's weapon, a spear and aimed it at the other group and shouted in the same human language as the woman did, further shocking the Spartan and his A.I companion.

"Kill those purple skinned Night Elves!"

The Spartan watched as the two groups suddenly fought one another, the women fired arrows into the beings called Orcs and managed to kill a number of them who were charging right at them at full power, however some of the Orcs were not giving up as some fired their spears into the Night Elves' ranks and several were wounded, some with scratches and others with more serious wounds. These…Orcs apparently had reinforcements as more of their kind began to pour forward from the area where they came from and charged right at the Night Elves.

The Night Elf men began to use their talents and to the shock of the Spartan, those men armed with Staves unleashed tornadoes that stopped several Orcs and sent them into the air, the others who were armed with claws seemed to suddenly roar out and make the women hit with greater force and power.

Cortana was trying to digest what was going on before her and she was amazed.

"Incredible…."

Not to be outdone, the Orcs began to unleash their own powers as Fel magic hit the battle field, waves of fire and dark glowing bolts of red energy flew into the air and struck at the Night Elves. Some of the women suddenly were screaming in pain and dropping their bows and holding their heads as if gripped in a nightmare. Some of the men were also burned by the bolts of fire.

The Spartan weighed his options quickly, he knew that getting involved in this fight between two totally unknown species with unknown abilities was a powder keg of trouble waiting to be ignited, and the last thing he wanted was to be the spark that set it all off. On the other hand, these Night Elves or whatever they were could hold answers that he might need. He knew that his decisions could decide his fate with one blow, yet he had no other option as he knew nothing of the land and from what he could see from the way the Orcs attacked, they were fanatical and brutal. The Spartan had been trained to see the state of a person's being and from what he could see in the way the Orcs' fought, they were murderous and fanatical, not the sort one allied with unless in dire straits. The Night Elves on the other hand…

He and spoke to Cortana.

"We're making a move."

Cortana then replied.

"I hate it when you say that, I know you…but what the heck, I like your brand of action already big guy. So just one question, exactly who are we going to help in this morass?"

The Spartan replied by taking his SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle to his shoulder and taking aim at his first target of the night.

….

BOOM!

One of the Twilight's Hammer Clan Orc Warlocks only had enough time to roar just as she lost her head....literally as the Night Elves looked on in shock and so did the rest of the Twilight's Hammer strike force were suddenly stopped dead in their tracks as one their supporting spell caster was now hitting the ground as she was now a headless corpse.

The next one to get hit was another Warlock as another roar came out and smashed right into his chest. The impact sent bloody flesh and bone as the Orc now had a massive hole in the chest area. He could only gape in shock as a river of his blood flooded out of his mouth as well as the maw in his chest as he dropped dead.

The two were not alone as two more Warlocks were suddenly shot with two the same mammoth roars being heard at the very same time and the first Warlock had half his arm and a portion of his chest ripped off by the sheer force of whatever it was that hit him. The second also had a massive hole where his stomach used to be and he was sent to hit the ground with a wet thump.

The silence that followed left both groups stunned but some of the Orcs tried to attack once more, only to be greeted by another roar that ripped the leg of another Orc with brutal force and then something landed on the ground with a thump on the ground before several Orcs and then an explosion occurred, and as the smoke cleared, several Orcs were crying in pain and shock as some had limbs blown off while some had gaping wounds on their bodies.

The Night Elves tried to grasp what had happened; they had lost their unknown quarry and then were attacked by the Orcs and their forces and now it seemed that something was killing the Orcs

It was then that the two sides were able to see something come out from a cave a fair distance from them all. It was the Spartan himself who still carried that mammoth rifle that made what the Dwarves of Ironforge used as a simple toy. The Spartan said nothing and fired another round, this time it cut into three of the still stunned Orcs and literally killed all three of them. The round tore through their bodies like they were not even there and the stench of gunpowder filled the air easily enough.

The Orcs roared and charged right at the green and black armored being who placed down the rifle and took out another one and then with near godlike speed, charged into the Orcs and began to fire into them. The sounds of the weapon firing, the flash of fire, the unmistakable smell of gun powder, and the deaths of the Orcs was shocking to the stunned Night Elves as they could only watch as the giant tore into the Orcs with ruthless power.

The Spartan was quick on his feet, cutting down several of the Orcs with several controlled bursts of his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, the ones that got close tried to cut the Spartan down with their weapons, but they were not going to get far as the Spartan lashed out with powerful counter attacks, One Orc was sent flying back with a powerful strike to the neck that broke it instantly, another got kicked in the chest and sent smashing hard into another tree, breaking several ribs. One more got kneed and was shot in the face with a burst of the Assault Rifle's rounds, reducing it's face into bloody confetti. The rest of the Orcs were soon finding out that attacking the Spartan was a serious mistake as the unknown being was proving to be deadly in close combat.

The Spartan quickly reloaded his MA5C while taking out his Combat Knife and slashed out with such blinding speed and accuracy and cut down several Orcs by cutting their throats while evading their weapons. Once they dropped dead and bleeding, several more Orcs were cut down, the 7.62mm FMJ rounds of the Assault Rifle was more than enough to slice through the armor worn by the Orcs with terrifying ease that scared the ones watching on both sides as the rounds sliced through the Orcs with ease.

The Spartan also used his M6G Magnum as he threw his Combat Knife right into the chest of another attacking Orc armed with a spear and before the Orc could even look to see the weapon lodged deeply in his chest, the Spartan introduced the Magnum into his face and blasted the orc dead center. The round easily tore into the skull of the Orc and the internal explosive fuse inside the bullet exploded and easily shredded the brain of the Orc and killed it easily.

Another Orc tried to attack quickly but the Spartan fired several more rounds and stopped the Orc from attacking with his axe as the hand was blow apart and before it could pick up the discarded axe, the Spartan fired another round right in the face of the Orc. The Spartan quickly resorted to the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and blasted down several more of the Orcs that came at him. The Orcs now focused all of their attention on the Spartan as he proved to be a far more serious threat for them than the Night Elves themselves.

The slaughter went on until the Twilight's Hammer group unleashed their Ogre to crush this monster in human form. The Ogre wasted no time to try and kill the Spartan, but the only reward it got for it's efforts was it's chest being shredded by the Spartan's weapon as the rounds were quickly able to slice through the armor the Ogre had on. The Assault Rifle however went dry and that Ogre attacked, swinging it's club once more as the Spartan placed the weapon on his back. The stone head covered weapon however missed as the Spartan leaped over it and charged right at the Ogre and sent a powerful right punch into the stomach, crushing past the plate armor with ease and sending the two headed Ogre backwards and hurling out wads of spittle and blood at the force of the attack. The Spartan followed with a massive spinning side kick that smashed hard into the left head at the lower jaw, shattering it with amazing force, sending the left head smashing into the right one, forcing the creature to actually reel from the kick given to it by the Spartan.

The two headed creature barely had time to react as the Spartan quickly took out what appeared to be a barbell sized device, but then a strange glowing blade appeared and the Spartan quickly decapitated the Ogre's two heads and it dropped to the ground in a bleeding heap. The other Orcs charged at the Spartan as he readied the sword and to their surprise, the weapon that the Spartan had in his hand was more than able to cut through flesh, bone and armor as it it was nothing but tin foil, the smell of burning flesh, super heated metal, and ozone filled the air as the Spartan continued to slash out with the Sangheili Energy Sword and cutting down Orc after Orc.

One of the surviving Warlocks unleashed a powerful fireball at the Spartan, and this time the Spartan was hit as he turned at the sight of the fireball.

The Orcs that were still alive roared in triumph and the Night Elves thought that their unexpected ally was dead, but that was changed when several Orcs were suddenly shredded along with the Warlock who danced a bit due to the bullets that tore into him as he fell dead. The surviving Twilight's Hammer forces looked on in terror as the Spartan appeared from the inferno unharmed. The warlocks roared in anger and tried to unleash yet another fireball but the Spartan was quick to attack at high speed and was before the Warlocks and cut them down with tremendous speed, the Warlocks were easily cut down and the rest of the Orcs tried to attack once more, only to be greeted by the Spartan's energy shields that was unknown to them and their weapons bounced off with ease, unleashing green energy that crackled in the night as the Spartan easily retaliated with the Energy Sword.

The Twilight's Hammer Clan were known for their nihilistic natures and so they didn't retreat as they attacked, however this only made them become easy target as that the Spartan moved away and placed aside his Energy Sword and returned to using his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle to finish off the rest of them. By the time the battle was over, an entire Orc raiding force had been laid to waste by the Spartan as he then walked over the bodies, methodically killing the ones who were still alive after the carnage by shooting them in the back of the head at the place that would easily ensure a quick and painless death for those who he had just reduced into a bloody mess, all the while the light from the moon reflected on his armor and the visor he had on him, and the bursts of fire from his rifle further added to the image of an armored being of death.

As soon as he was done making sure that the Orcs were all dead, he turned to his attention to the Night Elves after loading fresh magazine to both his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and the M6G Magnum and decided to talk to them, hoping that he had made the right choice in aiding them in fighting these Orcs.

This left the Night Elves who were still shocked at the sight of the Spartan walking towards them through the bloody and brutal battle field seemingly unharmed. They had seen many bloody battles before and had taken part in their fair share of battles as well, but this was something that was unlike any battle that they had been in, all due to the fact that so many of the enemy had been slaughtered by only one being. As soon as he was before them, they were tense and ready to defend themselves lest he turned on them as well, though they doubted that they were going to have any success. However, the unknown being placed aside the weapon and they finally heard his voice.

"Why have you been following me?"

The female Night Elves looked at the giant with great shock, awe, and fear, while the men were also still trying to figure out what to do, Night Elf men were strong individuals but this giant of a being was more than enough to make them look weak, he had punched an Ogre right in the stomach, crushed the armor plating there and made the Ogre literally lose it's dinner before decapitating the creature with that glowing blade.

Kaelyn then decided to speak out, since this behemoth seemed to speak the human language, she decided to use the human tongue to find out who or what was this being.

"I am Kaelyn Nightwalker of the Sentinels, who are you?"

….

To be continued…

….

Author's Notes:

I am back, feeling a load better than before and ready to dive hands first into another creative streak of writing, though not by much since the weather here isn't very nice at times….blasted El Nino phenomenon…

Well, that ends another idea that came from my brain, just so everyone knows, this is just the testing phase so I'm not ready to go full scale yet, and I'm just testing the waters of this idea if you will. As for chapters for my other works, I am feeling well enough to start cranking out maybe a chapter or two with the other stories that I think will be available for update.

I won't say which of my stories are getting the updates so don't ask me since that's my department, I'll worry about that end for myself.

Anyhow…before anyone starts sending me questions on how this story will end, let me remind you that I have to dust out my memories of Warcraft in order to get more meat into the story and also if anyone asks me if the Master Chief has a love interest who isn't Cortana…

Then my answer to that is this line…

'That's a secret!'

All jokes aside, this story like all stories has potential if done right so I hope to do a good job with it as much as possible. I should be getting back to my other works so this will take some time to update.


	2. Chapter 2

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own WOW or Halo.

Chapter 1

Trip to the Dawn

( ): Thoughts

….

Back in the clearing…

The Master Chief looked at the apparent leader of the group known as Kaelyn and that was when Cortana spoke to him without revealing herself to the Night Elves.

"Normally I suggest not revealing critical information, let alone your identity, but we're short on information and you don't have to go into specifics so go ahead and tell her just who you are, and I suggest what you also mention what you are, after that display I can wager a guess that they might think of you as some sort of demon so let's not give them the wrong idea."

The Spartan snorted a bit and replied to his A.I companion.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Cortana laughed gently at that and answered back.

"It's up to you John, but not answering a woman's questions is naturally considered rude after all."

"Fine."

As soon as that was out of the way John directed his attention to the Night Elf and replied to her question in crisp military fashion, as he was trained to do ever since he was on Reach.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, member of the United Nations Space Command Navy."

If anything it served to confuse the Night Elves as they looked at him with more confusion than expected and John wondered just what to do with this kind of situation, he was more used to fighting the Covenant and the Loyalists as well as the Flood and Insurrectionists, this was way beyond his knowledge since he had been trained to fight and diplomacy was usually done by trained diplomats. But he decided to help along if they wanted to ask any more questions and sure enough, they did, or at least Kaelyn did as she was the leader.

"What is this UNSC you speak of? What sort of name is that?"

John replied once more in full professionalism.

"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, but if you want a shorter name, just call me Master Chief, or just Chief, that will do just fine. As for the UNSC, it is the faction that I served for over thirty years of my life as a Spartan."

Kaelyn looked at the being, though she had to strain her neck in doing so, he was tall, there was no doubts about that and looking at his face plate with her face looking back at her had a slightly troubling effect on her. But she was a veteran warrior and she was not going to be easily intimidated by anything or anyone for that matter. She then decided to find out more about this stranger, one thing however was for certain and that in the way he spoke. This told her that he was a soldier like she was.

"All right….Chief, what race are you?"

The Spartan replied to that with only one word.

"Human."

That was enough to shock the Night Elves; they had met the humans already though not in the most benevolent of terms, but this thing….was human? They had no idea that the humans would have such a fearsome warrior in their ranks. Where was this warrior during the Third War? If he had been there, he would have been quite a deadly asset in fighting the Burning Legion. Were there others like him? Was this UNSC this giant spoke of part of the Alliance from Lordaeron as well? If it was why was it not with them when they came here?

So many questions were in the minds of the others but Kaelyn had only two, and she was not going to let them remain in her head for too long.

"Can you prove that you are human?"

John had to give this….Night Elf woman credit, she was not intimidated by him and that was rare, most human soldiers in the UNSC were usually in awe of the Spartan while the Covenant depending on the side had other reactions, the Separatists had respect, and the Loyalists had hatred. This unknown Night Elf was showing none of those and seemed focused on trying to make sure that he was not a threat, he could read that much from her body movements and the way she looked at him.

"I am human, that's all that you need to know for the time being."

Kaelyn frowned at that, she was angry of course, but she kept her temper in check and reminded herself that fighting this being was not exactly the wisest of ideas considering how he easily slaughtered the Orcs and the Ogre, however she did have one more questions and decided to ask it quickly and figure out the last piece of the puzzle.

"All right then, now my next question. Is this UNSC you serve located in the lands of Azeroth and part of the Alliance?"

The giant shook his head slightly and replied.

"No."

Kaelyn was even more confused by all this, here was a supposed human who was telling her that he was not from Stormwind itself, the capital city of the Humans, even more than that, he was telling her that his faction was not part of the Alliance and was not on the continent of Azeroth. This confused her a great deal and she was nowhere near any answers that made sense to her, for now however she decided to shelve those questions aside for the moment and focus on the more pressing matters.

"Where were you going?"

The Spartan then replied.

"To get back to my ship and set up a base of operations. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get moving."

The Spartan turned and began to head off in a different direction in order to get to the HEV, but before he could go anywhere, the woman was before him and to his surprise, as well as that of Cortana, she had an arrow notched in her bow and aimed right at his visor. This woman had guts to be aiming an arrow that was nigh useless against his shields, let alone his MJOLNIR, and he had to respect that in this woman. The other Night Elves were stunned by this but they didn't stop their leader from her actions.

That showed that they respected had for their leader and the Spartan could understand that, he however replied quickly and patiently.

"Why are you aiming that at me?"

Kaelyn replied.

"I do not trust you Chief, I am a Sentinel and my duty has always been to the safety of my people and my home, you might have saved my life and the lives of those in my patrol, and for that I do thank you, but I cannot just let you wander around here without supervision. Doing so would be a violation of my oath to protect my people. I do not know for sure who or what you are or if you truly are human, and until I find out who you truly are and where you come from, you are not taking a single step further in the forests of Kalimdor."

The Spartan couldn't help but feel a slight smile appear on his face.

(This woman is a soldier through and through, she is duty bound to protect her people and world, willing to give her life to protect them, and I can respect that.)

The Spartan then replied.

"I assure you that I am no threat to you and your people, in fact, you're people may be able to help me."

"Explain yourself."

"My ship came here and crashed safely, as one can get, while I do have it's location, I do not have the lay of the land nor the information of it's people. You're race are the first I encountered already and I am not here to wage wars with anyone. If you like, you can accompany me to the site and you can be assured that I won't cause trouble, and I have a proposal."

Kaelyn relaxed a bit and spoke once more.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I prove to you that I am not a threat to you, I can also help you fight any possible threats you encounter along the way and in turn, you help me know just where is it I happen to have landed in with information."

"Why?"

"I am in an unknown land, surrounded by unknown beings, cultures, civilizations and more besides. I need information of cultures, customs, social hierarchies, factions…everything. I need to know who are the sides and what is going on here so I can make the right decisions that will be key to my survival here in this world which no doubt is your home. Information is power and I need information, which is what you have."

Kaelyn thought it over and weighed the options, the offer sounded sincere and she decided that she and her group would greatly benefit with the being's skills and weapons when it came to fighting other threats, especially when they fought with the Orcs. She also thought about what he was asking from her, information was a powerful thing, however she was very careful in this train of thought.

Information was a very valuable commodity and she was aware of it's power, after all, it was with information that they were able to survive the war with the Burning Legion and more besides. If she gave this stranger the information he wanted what was he really going to do with it. She knew that she would have to decide quickly since there was no telling what could happen soon as long as they stayed here.

She then replied after making her decision.

"All right, I accept your proposal, but make one thing clear, if you do anything that I consider a threat, I will not hesitate to fight you, even if I will die doing so."

With that the Night Elf left to check on the rest of her group to check on the wounded and injured while the Spartan was left alone to speak to her Spartan companion, and the Spartan could hear the amusement in her voice.

"Not bad, not bad at all. We get them on our side for now and you get information on this world we happen to be in. You've gotten rather quick on the tongue there big guy."

"I suppose, but it was the best option."

"I know, they already know that you are more than able to fight them and take them on in a fight despite their numerical superiority, and the fact that you will be willing to help them might put them in a more relaxed mood. Not only that, the extra hands will be helpful since we do have limited supplies until we get to the HEV since there is no telling what other creatures we have to deal with until we get there, plus they know the land so we might get access to some shortcuts to cut travel time Still, that woman certainly has guts, aiming an arrow at you like that, I like her spirit."

John snorted a bit in good humor as he also had to respect the woman who only moments ago had aimed an arrow right at his helmet's face plate. Not many did that to a Spartan and he saw her eyes, glowing and all, she was a veteran of many battles and no doubt this made her braver than most people. He then looked at the woman as she checked her comrades, both male and female to see the extent of their injuries and he saw the ones with the claw weapons casting some sort of spell that seemed to help mend the wounds of their allies. Cortana took a quick interest at what she was looking at and replied.

"Remarkable….whatever those men are doing it seems to help stimulate the natural regenerative properties of the body. I am picking up some weird energy readings coming from them though I don't detect any massive energy readings that would signify an attack."

The Spartan nodded as he saw that the wounds of the Night Elves were beginning to mend before his eyes, he moved closer to allow Cortana to have a closer look and there he saw some of the wounds closing up right before him, that was when he realized that the number of wounded as a bit higher than the number of healers present and an idea clicked to him.

He then placed aside his weapon by placing down and removing the rucksack from his back and opening it to see what supplies he had with him for healing purposes. He had made sure to pack extra medical supplies for any kind of situation even though his MJOLNIR Mark VI had build in bio-foam injectors with a self sustaining supply of Bio-foam.

Spartans were trained for anything and everything so he brought all he needed when it was possible, that was something that his mentor and trainer Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez had trained into him and his fellow Spartans since they were young and that lesson had saved them more than once. Most people who would see the harshness and ruthlessness of the man's training of such young children would call Mendez a sadist and a monster, but the Master Chief knew otherwise.

Mendez's lessons had been invaluable in shaping him and his fellow Spartans into the soldiers they were today, and those skills, abilities, and the knowledge were key to not just their success but also their survival, they would not have lasted as long as they had without his training, and that training helped them turn what would have lose after lose into tactical victory during the wars with the Covenant. Mendez was the father figure to them and that was why no matter what others thought of the man, he and his fellow Spartans were always thinking highly of him whenever they thought back on their past lives.

He checked to find that he had more than enough supplies and moved over to the wounded Night Elves and opened one of the Health Packs to begin treatment but was stopped by Kaelyn who looked at his materials with suspicion as she spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"Showing you that you can trust me for the time being, I will help tend to the wounded in your group."

The Night Elf then replied.

"Our Druids can handle that part well enough."

"True, but they will need to use their magic in combat as well and the quicker your people are treated the faster we can get moving."

Kaelyn looked a bit at the Spartan and she didn't want to show it but she understood the meaning of that statement, the magic of Rejuvenation took time to work and since they were a fairly large patrol they had to wait for the magic to work to full effect so travel was not possible especially when wounds and injuries would prove fatal to them. She however wondered just what sort of healing could this….Master Chief give to her people. After seeing how much carnage he could unleash, the idea of this being a healer was rather hard to swallow. However she decided to try and see if what this being said was real.

"Go ahead."

The Master Chief got to work quickly took out several canisters of Bio-foam as well as some self sealing and adhering antiseptic bandages, Polypsuedomorphine, and a stitch kit. As soon as he got his materials together, he went to work patching up the wounded Night Elves he gave them warnings that the Bio-foam would hurt a bit at first touch and sure enough it did, making the women moan out in pain but that sort of pain lasted for a second at best and soon he placed the bandages on the wounds, for the more serious cuts, he stitches them up first to seal up the wounds carefully, use the Polypsuedomorphine to dull it and use the Bio-foam and then the bandages.

Spartans were no strangers to doing first aid after all, they had to treat their own injuries as well as that of their fellow Spartans as part of their training in order to survive in the battle field. So despite their near invincible and supposedly merciless war machines reputations they were able to heal and treat wounds to keep themselves in top fighting form. The healing work for the Spartan took only half an hour at best since there were a number who needed treatment and then Master Chief was happy with the work he had done, he got up and left.

The Spartan was busy gathering his supplies as he looked at the recovering Night Elves he had treated, seeing them back on their feet told him that his work was done, though he made sure to warn them that the medicine was temporary since the effects would wear off in a few hours, however, their wounds would be all right once they were further healed by their comrades.

That statement was proven to be true as the Druids found that they needed to cast less of their magic on the wounded as their bodies were healing well enough, this allowed them to reserve more of their magic for more important times and the other female Night Elves were impressed by how quickly their wounds had healed as the Spartan moved to recover his Sniper Rifle. Once he recovered it, he checked his ammunition stores and saw them to be all good and he recovered his Combat Knife, cleaned it a bit and placed it back in the sheath, showing that he was ready to go on with his mission to locating the other falling objects.

With nothing to lose and time on their hands, Kaelyn decided to call it out and her patrol went forward to follow their new found guest and possible ally, though the senior Night Elf Sentinel still had some of her doubts about the Spartan.

….

Several hours later…

As the group reached the HEV, the Spartan tapped the code into the control console to make the HEV fire it's hatch open, the Spartan then told the Night Elves to stand back and avoid being hit. However, having witnessed the whole thing happen before, the warning was not entirely needed as they stayed a good way away from the HEV.

The door exploded away and the Spartan checked the contents of the HEV and found all the supplies and spare weapons that he had stored in the HEV, he then checked his chronometer and saw that it was already going to be four o'clock in the morning. It had been at least several hours since he had finally gotten on the move after treating the wounded and moving through the forest since the new group actually slowed him down. It was a bit of a problem but the fact that they knew the land helped somewhat as they moved through areas that helped shave off more time from his trip and the extra support was helpful.

There had been encounters with several unknown creatures, some of them were naturally hostile and while he had been more than able to hold his own he had been able to see the Night Elves in action and he gave them credit. Their skills were very useful and their weapons, while primitive by any standard of the UNSC where highly effective. No doubt their long lives here in this kind of world made them excellent in survival and tracking, and the Spartan wondered just how they would perform in other environments.

Cortana had joked to him that if any of the UNSC guys got to see the Night Elf females in action they would have been more than happy to work alongside them. And despite his professionalism, he couldn't help but agree a bit as he could see the appeal there for the men, despite the fact that the Night Elves were technically aliens.

He decided that now was the right time to grab a much needed meal, as much as he wanted to go all the way to the Dawn and check the Frigate's status, he was not going to do much if he lacked the energy to do so. He might be a battle hardened Spartan but he was no god and he was no machine, he needed energy like the next UNSC Marine, ODST, Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel.

With that in mind, he turned to face Kaelyn who was still there near him.

"We can rest here for now, grab a meal and when we're done, I will push on to the Dawn."

Kaelyn nodded and looked to her comrades and spoke.

"All right, we'll set camp here for now and get some food and rest, let's get a camp site set up as quickly as possible!"

"Yes Sister-Captain!"

The women got to work gathering nearby firewood while the men began to look about for hunting game as well as looking for wild fruit and vegetables that would make part of their meal for the day. They also appeared to have carried some supplies for making fire, while some set up the camp, others armed with their bows stood guard to make sure that no one attack them. The Spartan mentally nodded in appreciation for the professionalism of the Night Elf patrol and he made that evident to Kaelyn.

"Your group's shows a great deal of discipline."

Kaelyn nodded and replied.

"We have to, our numbers aren't like what they used to be ever since the Battle at Mount Hyjal. We have to make sure that we do our best to survive and avoid losing too many of our people in pointless battles and field accidents. We…lost so many."

The Spartan could see that this battle was something of a sour topic for the Night Elf and he could understand that. He had been in very serious battles himself and the worst…

(No need to think about that, not now.)

"I'll set up my camp here near the HEV."

The Spartan left the Night Elf to look at his back, she sighed to herself and headed off to the camp to help out with the setting up of their camp. The Spartan was busy with thoughts in his mind but as soon as he got to the HEV and soon got to work setting up his own camp, there was a small stream nearby and he quickly rummaged through his supplies to see what he could use.

He found a Ferro-cerium rod that would be used to make a fire and took that with him. He gathered some dried wood nearby and quickly got enough fuel for a fire and worked his magic with his recovered Combat Knife and soon got a fire going easily, the warm fire was not for warmth as his MJOLNIR Mark VI was more than able to handle that requirement, but for morale and also for heating water for what he needed.

He had several MREs with him and he opened one and pulled the special heating tab that triggered the hidden heating weave that was in the tray that held the food there, warming it up and making the food good and hot for ideal eating. The MRE had hot mashed potatoes with butter already on it that melted to add more flavor to it, there was also boiled peas and carrots as well as several slices of well cooked beef with now hot gravy on them. The Spartan quickly took out the specially made spoon and fork as well as the sachets of coffee powder, cream, and sugar.

He then got out a small pot made from metal and poured in the coffee, sugar, and cream when he took some cool water from the stream, Cortana analyzed the water and found it to be fit for drinking with no bacteria and parasites. He then made a quick tripod from several strong metal wires and as soon as he was done, he hung the pot over the fire and got down to eating his meal while occasionally making sure to stir the contents of the pot to make the mixture blend well together.

He naturally removed his helmet and began to dig into his food, and he was feeling a good deal better, one thing that he learned early on in his career as a Spartan was to never under estimate the power of a hot meal. He might never show it on his face but he felt very relieved whenever he was able to have a hot meal in his mouth and in his stomach.

….

As he ate his meal with military discipline and focus he thought about his next set of options, so far he had been able to get on the side of the Night Elves though he was curious about the ramifications of his siding with them over those Orcs. Most people would have opted not to get involved with what happened before, and just let the Night Elves and the Orcs fight one another to the death, that way they were free to go ahead.

However the Spartan knew next to nothing about the land, gathering topographical data was one thing, as well as gathering data on the cities on the maps, that was easy to do with the kind of technology he had to work with and Cortana's help, what was the hard part was the information on the ground. Who were the key players? What were the factions and organizations here? How many other races and cultures were there on this world? All this information was worth it's weight in sweat, tears, money, and blood.

Mendez once taught him a lesson from the books written Sun Tzu:

'He who knew himself and knew his enemy need not fear the result of a hundred battles; He knew himself but not the enemy will have a loss for every victory; and he who knew not himself or the enemy will face defeat in every turn.'

That was true since it was only when many lives were lost in the opening days in the UNSC Covenant War that the UNSC was able to know enough to face the enemy before them. The data from recorder chips recovered from dead, dying or alive UNSC Marines, ODSTs, and Army personnel would provide valuable tactical and strategic data to give the UNSC a fighting chance against their new foes. Gathering tissue samples from the bodies of the dead was one thing, gathering intelligence data from live beings was another thing entirely.

He needed the information as he had told Kaelyn, and he chose to help the Night Elf Sentinel and her patrol for several reasons, the first was that they had not attacked him the very second they had caught sight of him, this told him that they were only aggressive when they knew a threat they knew and treated unknowns differently which was a good sign for the time being, had they attacked him, he would have considered them and all others like them hostile and killed them quickly on site.

The second was the fact that they were able to speak the human language of English, that meant that they had prior contact with humans and that could be very valuable to him as they would no doubt know more about where he could find other humans in the land.

The third was due to their skills as residents in this land that they called home, they knew the land marks well and would be great aides in cutting travel time for him, plus they would be able to explain to him the various life forms here on this continent which would save him a tremendous amount of headaches had he gone and did this on his own. He didn't want to waste valuable resources in fruitless ventures in an unknown land at all since it was counterproductive so having assistance from the natives was helpful.

And the last was that he had a feeling that he could trust them, not enough to warrant him turning his back to them of course, but enough to tell him that he might be in better hands with them for now until he got what he needed

The Orcs would have been also useful, but the very second he saw them attack the Night Elves and from the blood thirsty and suicidal way they did it, the Spartan knew already that aligning with them was not a viable option. Their knowledge of Human language meant that they also had prior contact with humans, but their actions told the Spartan that their relations with humans would no doubt be hostile, and if they knew he was human, he had no doubt they would try and kill him.

The savage attacks they did to him also told him that they were fanatics, even when he was slaughtering their group, they didn't break and retreat to recover, but kept on charging like rabid wolves after a meal. Fanatics were not to be trusted in many ways and who knew what could happen if they captured him somehow. The Orcs he fought with displayed also a bloodlust that made them similar to the Brutes when they went into a berserk rage in battle and he didn't need to be working with them for any reason.

As he ate his food with those thoughts in mind, he then moved the pot off the fire and poured himself a good helping of coffee, and he took another cup and got some of the cool water. He began to sip his coffee, taking the time to savor the taste and warmth. It had been so long since he had a proper meal ever since getting back to Earth and fighting all the way to the Ark so he decided to take his time to enjoy it, though his senses were still on full alert.

….

On the other side of the lake, the Night Elves were currently cook a deer that the Druids were able to hunt down while eating some of the wild fruits and vegetables that were brought in by the others, the patrol also took out several skins of cool spring water that they had with them and they were making sure to have a good meal before they moved onwards with their guest. The fire was made magical to cook the meat well and soon the Night Elves were finally able to relax somewhat.

Kaelyn sat near the fire and was deep in thought about everything that had happened so far in this night. One of the Sentinels then spoke to her commander.

"Sister, are you all right?"

Kaelyn sighed and replied to that.

"I don't know….I hope that I am not making a huge mistake by allowing that being to walk to where he is going."

The others had to agree but one of the Druids then replied.

"While that is true, it seems that his route is taking him away from any of the settlements as well, wherever his ship might be, it is very far away from any of the villages our people reside in. I have a feeling that if he had any ill will towards us, he would have fought us as well as the Orcs."

One of the Sentinels nodded at that and she spoke.

"I have never seen such movements before in my life, it was too….fluid and precise, if he truly is human….then he is unlike any human we have come across."

"His armor could be enchanted, that might explain his speed and power."

"I don't think so, remember, there was nothing to tell us that the armor was indeed enchanted or magically forged, as there had been no energy coming from it or had runes, magical symbols on it and metal we would recognize as enchanted. I sensed nothing of any sort of magic that in our records that has anything to do with enchanted metal or any inherently magical materials."

"But how could he be able to do that kind of damage to an Ogre with just his fist and kick? I have never heard of any human being able to do that for as long as I have been able to read about humans."

"Maybe he is indeed a demon and only uses some sort of armor that somehow contains and hides his Fel energy?"

"Then why did he heal us with those devices he had with him if he is indeed a demon?"

"Maybe to let us lower our guard somehow, to make us see him as less of an enemy and make him seem more trustworthy to us."

"Demons of the Burning Legion may be subtle, but not THAT subtle, We have killed so many of their most powerful leaders and officers in the battle of Mount Hyjal that they have lost a lot of their skilled forces who are excellent at manipulation. Besides, we have no idea what sort of metal could hide Fel energy just yet. And if there was such a material, then the Legion would have been using that for all their forces, though I have my doubts as many of them would merely prefer to show themselves in their arrogance to destroy us in the open."

Kaelyn listened to the discussions between her patrol group as she ate her own food to satisfy the stumbling in her own belly when she finally realized that she had no been able to have dinner and since it was soon going to be morning, they were not having breakfast.

One of the older Druids thought that over carefully and spoke out afterwards.

"What we can all agree on is this, he is not what he seems and we must keep our eyes on him and make sure that we have him under surveillance at all times. He might become a valuable ally but he can also be a deadly enemy if things were different. We must be very careful of this being until he gets what he wants."

"Shouldn't we inform High Priestess Tyrande of this? She must know more about this thing that has happened in our lands as she is our people's leader."

"We will, but we must know more of this being first before we make a more formal report to High Priestess Tyrande."

The discussions carried on for a good amount of time until Kaelyn decided to check on their guest, she got up and headed to where his camp was and when she arrived there, she was only able to see him place on his helmet yet his face remained completely hidden to her still, was he really a human underneath that golden plate and helmet, or a demon hidden in an armored shell designed to hide his true form?

Some many questions flowed through her mind as she looked at the Spartan move up and take that weapon he had with him as well as the supplies he had taken from the HEV or whatever it was that he called it. Several weapons were there as well so she had to wonder just how her 'guest' was going to carry them. The Spartan turned and once more the golden face plate that was it's face greeted her once more and she felt a shiver of unease run through her.

She had ignored it before, but ever since seeing this being in action she couldn't help but feel that this was a full fledged and battle hardened warrior before her. Her trainer, the Ancient of War Tars'drie once told her that sometimes warriors could tell the power and strength of one another just by looking and being close to them. She had taken it to heart and it was now that she was beginning to sense that her trainer was right. This being radiated something that tickled her warrior senses and her mind. Those feelings were the kind one felt when facing a warrior of greater skill, experience, and power according to her mentor and is to be treated with respect and not to be underestimated.

(He is powerful….and dangerous, I've already seen him action well enough but still, what kind of battles did he take part in?)

"Something wrong?"

Kaelyn quickly realized that she had been staring at the Chief without any hesitation and quickly replied, keeping her face under full control.

"Nothing, I came here to check on you and see if you were doing anything suspicious."

The Spartan shrugged as he got ready to move out, but decided to ask if her party was ready to move out with him. Kaelyn protested at that and told him to be patient as her patrol had not been able to eat completely and have some rest. That grated on the Spartan's nerves but he kept himself from over reacting and kept in mind that he had to earn the trust of the natives if he was going to be able to make sense of this world that he had just landed in.

This also gave him time to study the Night Elves a bit more, he could see that they were a very well knit team, Kaelyn giving good orders and gave respect to her group while maintaining discipline. He could see that her group were willing to continue with going to where they were going to go in keeping watch over him. All in all, this was a well oiled group and no doubt had seen plenty of action together for a very long time, which was something that made him feel some more respect for them.

However, he remained objective, aligning blindly with one side was not why he was here with them, he needed information and they had it, so there was no need to fraternize just yet with the Night Elves, the mission came first as always and everything else will follow afterwards. He then activated a private COM communications like with Cortana.

"Cortana?"

"Hmmm? What's up?"

"How far are we from the Dawn in terms of days and travel time?"

"At least half a week at best, hopefully we can avoid any more of those roving beasts and who knows what else, this is turning out to be one heck of a field trip."

The Spartan had to agree with that statement as he looked about with his weapon ready and all of his combat senses on high status mode for the time being. The Spartan recalled encountering the wild life here, some he and the others could avoid and some that were just too persistent and dangerous to ignore.

….

As soon as the camp was broken up, the group moved through the lands with the Spartan moving alongside Kaelyn as she decided to tell him what he needed to know about the land he was currently in. Apparently this continent they had chosen to land in was called Kalimdor and was home to the Night Elves for the most part though they mostly took up residence in the northern sections of the continent to be near the forests and lands that were sacred to her people.

They were not the only races who called Kalimdor home however, to the middle of the continent known as Central Kalimdor which according to Kaelyn was a tough land that had verdant plains, desert lands, savannah, with large and small islands near the coastal areas as well as marshes and swamps, and was home to the New Horde, it naturally had mountains, hills and canyons befitting the land and was home to not just the Horde but the Centaurs as well along with other races.

And to the South were ancient ruins and more besides in the past when the Night Elves had greater power and influence before the Sundering. John tried to get more information about this for both himself and Cortana, but Kaelyn was tight lipped about that one and he decided to save that for another time, All he could gleam about it was that South Kalimdor was a contested hot zone and was not for the faint of heart for good reason as there were very few towns there from either the Horde or the Alliance.

He then asked about the Alliance first and it was there that he learned about the time when the Night Elves first encountered the Alliance and the Horde and how things had changed for them ever since they had first fought both the Alliance and the Horde and eventually sided with them to fight the Burning Legion's forces when the Second Invasion occurred. Kaelyn then told the Spartan that if he wanted to know more about the more in depth events of history, then he would be best talking to the scholars, druids, and archivists. She concerned herself with more present matters though she was willing to talk about what she knew from her own accounts on the ground as it were.

He did just that and wanted to know more about the Alliance as she knew it, he learned that Alliance had come from another continent called Lordaeron after the Burning Legion attacked it after they were summoned with the aid of an undead army known as the Scourge. This alliance of humans, dwarves, gnomes, and high elves, led by one Jaina Proudmoore who was now ruler of a place known as Theramore Isle. Once they came there, they came under attack from their old foes, the Horde, or in this case, the Warsong Clan of the Orcs.

That told the Spartan already that the Orcs were a clan based race and that was a very difficult thing to deal with in his mind. Though they were one race, they were divided into clans and had different customs and the like so communicating with them was going to be challenging. But he placed that aside and listened even more to Kaelyn.

She didn't know what happened but the Horde and the Alliance decided to work as one in order to fight the Legion and this was where her kind had conflict as before the two sides worked together, the Orcs had desecrated their forests for lumber to build their homes which led her people to go to war in anger, and in that same battle with the Orcs, they had taken demonic power and had slain someone of great power and importance to her people, a Demigod named Cenarius and that was why her people developed an intense hatred for the Orcs and hunted them whenever they could.

And this carried on today even after the leader of the Horde, the Orc Warchief named Thrall had told them that ones who slew Cenarius were not Orcs but Fel Orcs.

This was enough to tell both John and Cortana just where the racial hatred between the Night Elves and the Orcs came from. However, they privately talked together and decided to wait for a bit longer as well as gather more information before making a judgment of the Orcs and the Horde as a whole.

Kaelyn finally told them about the battle of Mount Hyjal where they finally aligned with both the Alliance and the Horde to finally strike down the Burning Legion, how hundreds on the triple alliance had died to buy time for Malfurion to accomplish his goal, and the end of it….leading the current situation in the lands of Kalimdor.

…

After the end of the conversation, John decided not to ask about the Horde for now, but one thing was for sure, he was going to have to take his time to figure out what to do in this kind of a situation. If anyone had told him all this before and he had not landed in this world, he would have the person labeled as a certified lunatic and needed to be treated in a psych ward for the rest of his or her natural life.

But of course, that was no longer an issue after what he had seen.

The group managed to make good time due to the knowledge of the Night Elves of the land though they had pointed out that they were skirting rather close to the borders of Central Kalimdor and had to be careful of possible encounters with Orc patrols that were around. However they had managed to avoid them and set up camp late in the afternoon and were able to eat and rest, once they were done, they would press on until night fall.

On the third day….they finally arrived at their destination and soon the Spartan gave a slight sigh at the sight of the Forward Unto Dawn. It looks like the Forward Unto Dawn was going to be his home away from home for now in this unknown world and he would not have it any other way as this was the only thing that reminded him of the UNSC.

As he moved past the hills and headed to the frigate, he had forgotten that the ones who had been with him were looking at the Frigate with absolute surprise written all over their faces.

….

The Night Elves gaped at the sight of the wreck of the Forward Unto Dawn, they had no idea that what they had seen before was actually this massive. It resembled some of the air ships that they had seen before which were used by the Alliance and on occasion the Horde. But this massive thing made all those ships look like toys in comparison! It was huge and there was no doubt that they were going to be in for more surprises, they had heard rumors of the Draenei home ship the Exodar being very large and while this ship, after they recovered from their surprise was not as large as the ship itself, it was still huge in it's own regard.

This patrol had dedicated itself to working in the lands of their people so they had never set foot in the capital city of the Draenei to be sure, but they had heard rumors of the city's beauty and design, this ship on the other hand was a completely different thing all together.

This was more than enough to convince Kaelyn that this Master Chief was not kidding about his faction not being part of the Alliance of Lordaeron, since if it was, then she would have seen at least ONE such ship like this in her time in the Sentinels so long ago during the Third War.

Kaelyn managed to catch up with the Spartan who was a fair distance from them and though she couldn't see the being's face underneath the helmet, she had a feeling that he seemed more….relaxed at the sight of that thing before them all.

"Is this your ship?"

The Spartan replied to that.

"Yes….this section of the Forward Unto Dawn. This was a UNSC Frigate; it took part in a number of very critical battles, one of which I was part of as well. I can't say any more than that for now, but I can tell you that the other section of it was lost in transit."

Kaelyn did not like the implications of that as she looked at the ship, she was no expert but seeing the melted cut on the ship sent pure shivers down her spine. It looked as it some power or another had actually cut the ship with something massive and super hot as she looked at it a bit more, which was not much of a problem considering the sheer size of the vessel and the height, both of which continued to increase she and the others got closer to it.

(What could possibly be powerful enough to do that to a vessel this size?)

"Just how big and long is this….Forward Unto Dawn when it was whole?"

The Spartan saw no harm in telling her the original dimensions of the Dawn and Cortana likewise agreed with that assessment, with the Dawn stuck here and not going anywhere any time soon, there was no reason not to tell the Night Elf leader what the ship once was in the past.

"Before it got cut in half in the battle, the ship was a good one thousand six hundred seven feet at length, at width at least five hundred nine feet, and at height, at least a good four hundred fifty seven feet."

Kaelyn couldn't help but be awed as she began to picture the size of this vessel when it was not dissected by whatever it was that reduced it to such a state, she shook her head and spoke.

"So this is the most powerful warship in your forces?"

The Spartan turned at that and even though she couldn't see the Chief's face or read the body language, she swore that somehow she felt that he was somewhat amused by her statement though she couldn't tell. He then spoke to her after a moment of silence.

"Actually no, the ships of the Frigate Class of the UNSC Navy is considered to be the weakest in terms of fire power, and armor and is the smallest of our ships, they make up for those weaknesses with being much easier to build and can be fielded in larger numbers."

THAT statement stopped Kaelyn and her patrol dead in their tracks as they looked at the ship in utter wonder. This ship by their standards was nearby the size of a well fortified castle with a whole citing inside of it, had the length to take in a number of villages into itself, and the height that was nearly that of a mountain, and this being calls it the weakest ship his faction has?

If that was true, then how big were their most powerful ships?

They then looked at the side and saw the name of the vessel itself and there they spotted an emblem, a bird of prey, like a large eagle with his wings fully revealed in it's glory, gripping in it's talons what appeared to be a globe of a world and a single white long banner there on the lower area of the globe with the letters UNSC. This further told Kaelyn that maybe this Master Chief was not kidding about him not being part of the Alliance.

They finally recovered enough of their wits and followed the Spartan as he reached an access doorway and began to type in something on some sort of glowing pad and soon what appeared to be nothing but pure metal walls parted to reveal that it was a door. The Night Elves were very much worried about going in there. The idea of entering this fortress of metal did not sit well with them, especially the Druids as it felt….utterly unnatural to them. However, they decided to take the risk to learn more of this strange being and followed him.

….

As they moved into a massive hall way, the Spartan checked the entire floor with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on and his enhanced eye sight already helping him scan the ship, for now it seemed that no one was in the ship and the emergency lighting was still very much operational and gave some low level lighting in the area. He then spotted what he was looking for and spoke to Cortana.

"All right Cortana, you ready?"

"Yes, yank me, it's time I get to access the ship and see if everything we left behind is still very much in here. By the way, are you sure about this?"

"We don't have much choice Cortana, we need their help after all."

"I know, but I'll tell you this much John, this should be a very interesting day."

The Night Elves watched in curiosity as Spartan walked over to some sort of tank shaped like a pillar with a small glowing circle in the middle, they stopped when he reached it and then the Spartan reached behind his helmet and took out some small device that looked like a card of some sort that glowed. He placed it into a slot and stepped back, suddenly the Night Elves were surprised to see what appeared to be a small human made from light appear and it was female as it spoke in Common.

"Ahhh….that feels kind of nice."

The Night Elves were looking at the small human female made of pure light that glowed blue; curiosity overcame shock and fear as they came closer to see if what they were seeing is real, as they looked at it they saw symbols of some sort moving on the body of the woman of light, they naturally didn't recognize it. They quickly stopped when the blue woman of light turned to look at them and smiled.

"Greetings, my name is Cortana."

Kaelyn managed to get her head together and spoke back in Common.

"I am…"

"I know who you are, you are Kaelyn Nightwalker of the Sentinels, I watched you and your fellow Night Elves with my Spartan when you were trying to track us a few days ago."

"You were there?"

"Yes, you could say I reside in the head of my Spartan as it were, what he sees, I see, what he hears, I hear, we are one, in a manner of speaking anyway. By the way..."

Cortana's body glowed a bit more, showing that she was somewhat annoyed by something, the frown on her face was also telling as she glared a bit at the Night Elf.

"I was also there when you pointed an arrow at my Spartan's face, your weapon might not have done you much good, but even though I admire your courage, do not think I was entirely amused by what you did."

John didn't like that, he knew Cortana was not happy but he trusted her well enough so he didn't interfere as she glared at Kaelyn who managed to keep her expression calm and focused. Cortana then smiled a bit and seemed to relax as she spoke once more.

"At any rate however, what's past is past, the here and now is important."

John then spoke to Cortana, and despite hiding his face behind the helmet of his MJOLNIR, he had to admit that it felt good to see her face to face again.

"How's the ship Cortana?"

Cortana looked around the ship, and Kaelyn had a sinking feeling that this….being of light saw the ship differently than she and the others did, it was like she was peeling away the layers of metal around them and seeing all over it in a second. What was this being before them? Cortana then spoke to the Chief in a great deal of familiarity

"She's intact and not too worse for wear, everything we locked down is all here."

John nodded slightly at that, pleased with the results. Before they had gone down to the planet's surface after deploying the satellite , they had managed to get a full stock check of the Dawn's supplies. Before they moved out with the Separatist Fleet, Keyes had ordered the Dawn loaded with some serious materials and equipment, better to be safe than sorry as one would say.

The equipment included a working infantry weapons/armor/ammunition assembly package, this was a large collection of robotic units that were designed manufacture all known weapons used by the UNSC as well as make ammunition for them. Designed to replicate the production capabilities of large scale manufacturing plants, this was smaller and as such took longer to make weapons, armor and ammunition. However, it was more portable and as such would be useful in making new weapons and more with what materials he and Cortana had to work with.

Another bit of equipment was a number of portable Holo-tanks for more in dept field operations in battle which would be very useful to him and Cortana once they got whatever information they needed, as well as several crates full of Data Crystal Chips for increased amounts of storage space for information, these would be valuable to them since they would also serve as sources of data for Cortana to use in order to help keep her in good functional status.

There were also crates filled with working UNSC Bubble Shields, these would be limited but were very useful then the time came, there were TR/9 Antipersonnel Mines in the supplies, as well as a number of salvaged Covenant Loyalist equipment such as Regenerators, Power Drains, Flares, Cloaking, Deployable Cover, Portable Gravity Lifts, Radar Jammers, and thankfully enough some Incivility units. The gear might seem out of place in such a world that was not dominated by technology, but in the minds of Cortana and John, there was nothing stopping them from making….modifications.

Along with those things, were working components for a hydrogen reactor bank, this would prove very useful as this would shift away some of the strain of powering the Dawn from the four Deuterium nuclear fusion reactors that served to power the Dawn. The trip through the portal and the results of the collapse had damaged them and it would take time to be fully repaired so they needed to make sure that they didn't put too heavy a strain on the reactors until they were once more at full efficiency.

There were also a number of extra Robot Rovers, these machines were loaded into the Dawn for more serious duties as they had no idea what they were going to face once they crossed into the Ark beyond the Galactic Rim, there were seven of each type, the first were standard Rovers used to carry tons of equipment and supplies, in essence, they were cargo carriers, the second were Robotic Dollies, specialized units for medical facilities to move supplies and patients in and out of certain areas when medical personnel were too busy to deal with multiple patients, and the last were the Service Drones, they were the ones for heavy maintenance and work.

With him and Cortana being the only personnel here, having these units intact was tantamount to a gift from God if there ever was one. Added to that was a large number of UNSC weapons that were dragged into storage for that mission, even several M99 Stanchion Gauss Rifles which were phased out of service way back in 2521 were brought in for use in battle.

Apart from this, there were also a number of stored Covenant weapons such as Carbines, Beam Rifles, Plasma Rifles, Needlers, Plasma Pistols, Beam Rifles and a good amount of Plasma Grenades and the Energy Swords, these were invaluable weapons of war and would be useful though the Spartan knew better than to use them up since he had no way to reload them and supplies for the Carbines and Needlers were going to very precious. The only thing that was interesting was that a number of Brute weapons were onboard as well, namely a number of Spiker Rifles and their trademark Spike Grenades, these had been taken from several battle fields on Earth before and Miranda had requested that these were taken in and used instead of being left to rot. Besides, nothing would infuriate the Brutes more than being shot at and blown apart by their own weapons.

All of this was further supplemented by the fact that Lord Hood had requested at least two crates full of special replacement parts, spare fusion cells, BIOS data cards, testing equipment, and more for the MJOLNIR mark VI straight out from Seongnam, Korea. Even though he thought that going to the Ark was madness, the head of the UNSC burned everything he had on this last gambit and gave everything he had to get those parts and more for him in the final battle, but he never got to use them in the Ark. John however decided to send a silent thanks to Lord Hood for his efforts.

John was happy that they had lost NONE of these things as they would be critical in his duties here, and now he had to worry about what to tell his potential allies. He spoke first to Cortana in order to get things off the ground.

"All right then, I think it's time we do what we talked about earlier Cortana, we need to tell them."

Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves were confused by this and John replied as he was well aware of their confusion. He looked at Cortana and she smiled at him with a simple reply.

"I got enough power for that."

The Spartan nodded and spoke to the assembled Night Elves as the main lights in the Frigate finally came online, showing the Night Elves just where they were and that was in a Hanger Bay where a number of still working UNSC vehicles were there, these had not been used in the battle since all the UNSC forces had been evacuated when they finally made the last strike at the Ark. That was why there was such a massive surplus of equipment still in the Dawn when it went through the Portal. He also found out that Lord Hood had gone out on limb twice over when it turned out that he had taken a large number of vehicles to aid in the assault.

All of this would soon be used at some point in time, that much the Spartan knew, there were a pair of Albatross Heavy Drop-ships, a half dozen Pelicans, four Hornets, and four Hawks for air power, in the light vehicle category was a pair of MAAT-9 Wolverines, a dozen and a half Mongoose ATVs, ten Gauss Warthogs, ten LAAV Warthogs, and twelve Transport Warthogs.

In the heavy Armor category were at least a half dozen fully upgraded M808B Scorpion MBTs and to John's own inner surprise, a pair of Grizzly Battle Tanks and a single M-145D Rhino. How Commander Keyes got her hands on even one of these experimental tanks was beyond the Master Chief, but he didn't mind in the least.

The Night Elves were completely slack jawed at this, they had seen the Alliance use Steam Tanks in the Third War before, but these….these things made those Alliance weapons look like mere toys!

The UNSC A.I was amused by this and spoke to them.

"You wanted to know if the UNSC was somewhere here on your world yes? The answer to that question is simple, we're not from anywhere on your world. You see, we came from another world entirely. What you see here is but a small part of what the UNSC uses, so there is nothing here that will telling if we are part of your world since we're not from around here."

….

The Night Elves were trying to digest all this as they looked at what was there before them and as soon as they were done, Kaelyn knew that this was something that truly demanded the attention of their people right off the bat, however the Spartan told them once more that he and his companion were not here to invade or any of the sort, the two of them landed here to establish a place to stay and wait for rescue. They had no intention of fighting for anyone here on the ship or in the world in general, they just needed information so they had something to work with in order to make the right decisions.

That was when the Spartan explained his reasons as to why he aided them when they were attacked by the Orcs and why he had made that offer to Kaelyn. The Night Elf then replied that they had to report this to their leader at Darnassus, The Spartan asked who their leader was and that was when Kaelyn talked to him about Tyrande Whisperwind.

As he and Cortana listened to Kaelyn talk about the woman who was the High Priestess of the Sisters of Elune, they could tell that this person would be worth talking to. The fact that she was the official leader of the Night Elves further added weight to that idea. Hearing about her history, which included her training under this Goddess Elune and with this Demigod Cenarius, her skills in warfare despite being in a religious office all the way to the Third War further reinforced the facts to both John and Cortana that she would be the first person she needed to talk to in order to get a much better understanding of the situation in the continent that they landed in.

When they asked if they could meet and speak with Tyrande, this naturally didn't sit well with the Night Elves as they had already seen what he was capable of and the idea of letting him get inside their capital city and before their race's beloved leader was not pleasing. That was obvious as despite what she had seen already Kaelyn got into the face of the Spartan and spoke seriously.

"I will not let you do that, to let you in my people's home like that is near treasonous."

John smirked at that as he began to respect this Night Elf a bit more but he replied.

"I will not bring any of my weapons if that will be enough for you."

"You don't NEED your weapons to do damage, I have no doubts of that."

This trading of words between Spartan and Sentinel went on for some time until Kaelyn decided to order one of her fellow Druids to go and speak to Tyrande in Darnassus and see if the High Priestess was willing to even consider a meeting with the Spartan. The Druid, one Jarrod Moonleaf by name agreed and soon turned into a raven to take flight back to Darnassus. In the mean time, seeing that they were still needed on patrol, the senior Sentinel gave orders for her group to go back out while she remained here to keep an eye on the Spartan.

Naturally her group protested but she reminded them that they still had their duties as Sentinels and it must be done, so reluctantly the other agreed and that soon left the Spartan alone with the Sentinel.

As soon as that was done, the Spartan decided to at least give the Night Elf some good accommodations here in the ship and guided her to the nearby crews quarters and the Night Elf was surprised to see the row of bunks there. While the Dawn had a cyro-tube area, it was not needed and they still didn't know how Kaelyn's body would react in cryo-stasis. Besides that, the cryo-tubes were only used in trips through Slipspace, when they were in normal space, the beds were the ones touse.

The Sentinel looked about carefully and went to one of the beds there to see if it was good, and to her surprise, the beds were clean and the pillows were actually rather nice.

She placed her bow down and sat there, surprised that the bed, despite it's hard appearance was soft and comfortable, she had never felt this before and it showed on her face. That was obvious to the Spartan as he spoke to her while being at the door.

"Is this enough?"

"What?"

"Is this room to your liking?"

The Night Elf slowly nodded at that and the Spartan replied.

"Good."

As the Spartan left, the door closed and Kaelyn decided to rest, she might not show it, but even though she had gotten some sleep before, she had been hoping for a warm bed to rest in once she had gotten back to any of the villages for some time off after patrolling. But this bed was very nice indeed. She then propped her bow down and closed her eyes as sleep finally hit her.

….

Hours later…

Kaelyn had no idea how long she rested on the bed in this room but she had been having a good dream of happier times until the Invasion of the Alliance and the Horde into her home, she recalled the vivid battles that happened then, how she had been there when the Orcs had slain Cenarius and how she and her sisters were forced to leave after the Demigod had been slain. The dream then changed to when her people had fought the Orcs in a skirmish before. The dream became very vivid.

She recalled fighting a pair of Orcs, she had downed one but she ran out of arrows as the other charged at her, axe ready to cut her down, she reached down to her sword and her warrior senses kicked in as she moved and took out the short curved sword she had on with her and readied to attack…only to have her arm held in a tight but non threatening grip, that suddenly made her see white and a quick flash.

The Sentinel was shocked and opened her eyes to find her arm in the grip of the Spartan who to her surprise was still in full armor and helmet, she found herself standing off the bed she had been sleeping in before and poised to fight….just like in that dream.

"You all right?"

"W-What happened?"

That was then Cortana's voice came over the speakers.

"I picked up sudden changes in your body temperature and your movements, that told me you were in a dream, or rather a nightmare, so I sent Big guy here to check on you, it seems your awake."

Kaelyn realized that and quickly blushed at her actions and spoke.

"I-I apologize."

The Spartan gave a slight shrug and released her arm from his grip and spoke.

"It's nothing, by the way, it's already night time and time to have dinner, by the way, that Druid of yours came back."

"He did?"

"Yes, while you were sleeping, he said that your High Priestess is willing to meet with me, we're heading for Darnassus first thing in the morning."

….

To be continued…

….

Author's notes:

Well, cranked out another chapter for everyone to read for today, and I hope that you enjoy this one for the time being.

Sorry if it's not as action packed as the prologue but keep in mind that this is just the beginning chapter and I am not all that serious yet in making that many chapters. Now then, let's see just how this discovery will turn out for the people when John will finally meet one of the key leaders of the Alliance.

And that leader is naturally Tyrande who by definition is a good place to start off since she does have her duties focused as well as her energy, and since she radiates what I like to call a warrior's nature due to her past, the Spartan will develop a respect for her. But certainly not for a certain Arch-Druid who will no doubt be reminding the Spartan of a certain ODST officer who used to be a real pain in the neck for him.

The difference here in this new story from the others I made with Halo, is that for the first few chapters is that in this case, the Spartan and Cortana are neutral. They are not going to join the Alliance or the Horde for any reason until they know the lands and it's natives. Now John's mission directive, his goal is to defend Humanity, that has not changed, but this is not the UNSC-Covenant War of the Insurrection War, or the battles with the Flood.

In other words, in the Halo series, John and the UNSC forces had a clearly defined enemy before them, first the Insurrectionists, followed by the Covenant, then the Covenant Loyalists, and naturally the Flood. In that universe, John knew who his enemies were and fought them to the best of his abilities.

Here in Azeroth, it's a completely different story, he is in an unknown world surrounded by unknown beings who seem to be in a state of living in what he knows in history as the dark ages and who knew how he would be seen if he just does the guns blazing routine. Making fights when you were alone on an unknown world is NOT helpful at all, and John knows that.

The Master Chief is not an idiot, he has received a full education and he knows that fighting randomly will not work to his favor in this world so it's better to know everything there is to know before making a move. Naturally he will have to fight against those who would have hostile intent towards him for a variety of reasons but for most of the first few chapters, he will be meeting with people and establishing an understanding of Azeroth and it's people.

Along the way he will help others, gather some allies he can trust well enough, and even get along with, he can also establish some rapport with leaders from both sides and occasionally help out in one matter or the next. However, Cortana will still be the one who he trusts without reservation or restraint.

It's only when he finally has all the information that he needs will be take a more serious and proactive role in the world of Azeroth, for now, it's merely diplomacy…mixed with some actions and battles in between to spice up the story even more.

And the weapons will see action soon enough, just much later in the series.

….

Originally the idea for this was that John and Cortana would find a fairly intact UNSC ship in the Warcraft universe that was sent there in a Slipspace anomaly during a fierce battle with the Covenant and had many of it's crew killed due to a severe accident that killed many of them before they could leave the said ship.

The two would then take what they could from the Dawn into the new ship and then land on Azeroth in order to find materials to rebuilt the ship since it had suffered severely structural damage that while not enough to render if totally inoperative, made it too risky to fly in Slipspace so they landed there in the world of Warcraft.

However I scrapped the idea since it was too complex even for me so here we are.

….

One more thing…

To really add some kick to this, I plan for the Master Chief to develop his own magical arsenal that will work in the same principles as the weapons he has with him. In simple terms, he's going to meld magic with technology for a more explosive result.

How?

How about incorporating the materials and metals of Azeroth into his arsenals? After all, he will have the means to make adjustments to his gear and equipment due to the supplies and tools on the Dawn that were left intact, so there's nothing stopping him from adapting the resources of Azeroth to his own use.

See you soon!


	3. Chapter 3

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: Halo and Warcraft belong to two different companies and I don't work in either, so I don't own them.

Chapter 2

Meetings

( ): Thoughts

….

Early the next day…

John was currently field checking one of the Pelican Drop-ships in the Dawn's Hanger Bay with a nearby tool kit as well as diagnostic pad to keep himself busy for now until it was time to take his leave of the Dawn for the trip to Darnassus which was the capital of the Night Elves. Since he was near between the borders of North Kalimdor and Central Kalimdor, he needed to make sure that he was not going to be seen as an invader in the area which to his estimation, the Night Elves had jurisdiction.

This meeting was going to be very critical to his time here on this side of the land since it would at least make sure that he was not going to wind up angering the locals. He had decided to carry weapons for now, namely his trusty MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and a pair of M7 Caseless SMGs on his thighs complete with all of the needed ammunition magazines. Naturally he would activate the safety systems on the guns once he was there though he was still trying to get all the details right.

He had woken up early and gotten in some basic calisthenics in as well as some time to keep his combat skills sharp in the amazingly still intact firing range where the personnel would have been training when they needed to keep their skills sharp. Most of the night Cortana had been running through all of the recording data they had, and he himself had been busy thinking about what he had been seeing for the past days ever since he landed on this world.

He was familiar with the term magic, but that was only because of the studies in history he had back on Reach which highlighted the superstitious beliefs of ancient cultures of Humanity's history when it was starting out. Magic, Gods, Demons, Spirits, all of that was used by early humans on Earth to explain many things that they had no idea about, and had been driving factors in the development of various societies on Earth, from the belief of ancestor worship, human sacrifice, all the way to praying to the God or Gods for good weather, blessing marriages and the like.

He was also familiar with the terms given to those who were rumored to wield magical or divine powers. They were many, from druids, shamans, prophets, sages, prophetess, priests, priestesses, mages, necromancers, witch doctors, soothsayers, faith healers, witches, warlocks and more besides. He also heard of magical charms and the like was well as supposedly enchanted weapons such as Excalibur and many other things including the supposed creatures of myth and legend .

Of course, most of those things were soon disproved by the ever growing knowledge of mankind, and eventually the only things that remained that had any resemblance of magic were magic shows which were usually done with what most of the people called 'smoke and mirrors' though there had been cases of individuals with unique abilities but they were rare. Magic was also only seen in games and movies in the UNSC. As for Gods, spirits, monsters, undead and demons, they too were somewhat disproved by the advances of science and technology in his place of origin.

The UNSC had one standing rule with religion and the rule was simple: 'As long as one does not start a war over religion, or commit crimes against those of other religions, they are free to follow their beliefs'. This naturally meant that as long as nothing criminal and destructive was done to others in the name of religion, any member of the UNSC can be of any religion, which was why there were people of various faiths in the UNSC, along with those who didn't believe in religion.

Humanity's history had parts of wars fought over religion, namely the Crusades started by Christianity, and the Jihad of Islam, along with many other conflicts where religion played a role. Ever since the first trip beyond the solar system and the eventual settlement of other worlds that were proven to be habitable for human beings, the idea of starting conflict over extreme interpretation of religion was considered to be a waste of life, time and resources, as well as being meaningless.

That fact was driven home when the Covenant came and attacked the UNSC unprovoked and without cause due to their belief that the Human race were perversions to their Gods. The Covenant believed in the lies of the Prophets so much that they cared little on who they killed, man, woman, child, young, old, civilian, or military. That was more than enough to unite all the UNSC regardless of religion and for the Spartan he got to see just how violent a war with religious beliefs being the cause could be.

As for him personally, he wasn't very religious as well, in fact, nearly all of his fellow Spartans had no religious beliefs to speak of, though they did use some variants of Buddhism to relax their bodies and minds when they were on a mission or needed to relax before taking a mission. His long time friend Linda was known to use Zen Buddhism techniques to clear her mind when taking shots with her sniper rifle and she did it in such a way that she made sniping into an art form.

They studied religion for the effects it had on civilization, the development of social and moral standards of behavior, perceptions of other cultures, development of society as a whole. They didn't study religion to get a faith, they studied it for it's more practical effects. As for magic, it was more of a curiosity than an actual subject for them to learn.

….

And now here he was in a world where magic was the norm and not 'smoke and mirrors', and quite possibly everything he had thought to be only the workings of the ages past was existing. After seeing real elves, Orcs, and a two headed Ogre in the flesh, the Spartan knew that this world was going to be far from dull.

As he placed the kit down, Cortana spoke to him as she was busy in his suit running through several more files.

"John, you all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I picked up some spikes in your brain waves, as if you were deep in thought, something bothering you?"

The Spartan rolled his eyes and replied.

"You tell me, we just landed on a world where magic is not some illusion or work of fiction, and if I am willing to go out on a limb here, everything that is supposed to be the work of superstition and folklore actually exists here in this planet. If it wasn't for the fact that I saw all that with my own two enhanced eyes, I'd say that I was losing my mind."

Cortana laughed gently at that.

"I see your point there, I've been busy doing more research on what we've seen so far and I have say, this is amazing, the fact that this 'magic' stuff is actually real here might explain why there were so many energy readings when I scanned the planet while we were still in space. There were so many variants of energy with subtle and obvious differences from one another. I picked up the same thing from both those groups before."

"You mean from the Druids and the Warlocks?"

Cortana nodded and showed the images once more, only this time the Night Elf Druids and the Orc Warlocks were the focus and Cortana changed the images to more of a wire frame design of the two groups. That was when the Chief saw the energy waves that seemed to come from the two groups. On the Night Elves, the energy seemed to be deep forest green mixed with flecks of blue and slight yellow, as for the Warlocks, their energy signature was black mixed with deep blood red and sickly dark green. On both groups were a number of data graphs and calculations as well

"What am I looking at Cortana?"

"Apart from the obvious color difference, you can see that that their energy signatures have different ratings and numbers, this means that they are using not one type of energy, but two different ones. That means that if there is magic in this world that's not the kind one associates with shows and stages, then it's of different varieties as well. This can help us at least identify not only the kinds of energy but what kind of person uses this magic."

The Spartan thought it over and agreed that this was prudent as there was no telling what else they would encounter soon in this world, just because they had encountered the Druids and Warlocks and saw magic from them didn't mean that they were the only users of magic. Who knew what other beings and races they would encounter that could use magic? This knowledge would also prove useful if they would have to fight someone using magic as this would allow them to single them out more effectively.

"Cortana, can you modify the MJOLNIR's scanner systems to identify anyone using magic from a large room?"

"That's fairly easy to do since they are the only ones who can tap into it, though I will need to run scans on them to further identify their type of magic use; however I think the way they dress might be also effective. You noticed the way those Druids and Warlocks dressed, they wore little to no armor, no doubt they need to be free in order to use their magic more effectively, though the Druids wore leather armor from the way they were dressed. Not to mention the fact that they were always at the back, I think casting that stuff takes time, that might give us the chance to single them out and taken them out if we have to fight them."

John nodded at that, it was a rule that those who could fire at a distance to be at the rear, archers in ancient times used to do that, and siege weapons were always placed in the rear, even when gunpowder was used and the first guns were built, that rule remained until the evolution of warfare where soldiers with guns now used cover to avoid counter attacks and the advent of more powerful cannons. Since this world might be in a medieval setting it would make sense that magic would be used to support troop advances and also to attack powerful targets before a fatal assault. Thus it would stand to reason that killing magic users would deprive the enemy of any useful support and leave them with a significant decrease in overall power.

As soon as that was done, he looked to see Kaelyn finally appear in the Hanger with the Druid named Jarrod, the two were still in discussion and from what he could hear with his MJOLNIR's audio scanners, they were conversing in Darnassian, something that meant that they wanted to keep something hidden from him. This was enough to make the Spartan wary but not totally worried for now, however it would have been easier if he was able to at least figure out what they were saying.

Cortana answered him quickly as she revealed what else she had been doing.

"I have been using my translation software to try and crack their native language, that way we can at least figure what they are really trying to say, though I still need to have a much larger sample size of their languages before I can complete the translation program and then wire it into your brain."

"The trip to their capital city would do the trick I suppose?"

The A.I chuckled at that.

"Exactly, besides, if we can get access to their archives and libraries, it will help give me the heads up on their alphabet, various customs, dialects, organizations, maps, everything, at least with the Night Elves, there's not telling about the other member races of the Alliance or the Horde. If we crack their language at least we are ready for anything that might be lurking about. Besides, that might come in handy if we need to do the Trojan horse trick in the near future."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"You'll never know, at any rate, we're going to have to get ready for the trip to Darnassus, I haven't gotten an exact idea where it's located, but I can bet that traveling there will take some time."

The Spartan however had one concern that was important, if they were going to go to Darnassus, they were going to leave the Dawn undefended. As much as he knew that without the codes to unlock the security doors and blast doors, this ship would be all right, there was still the fact that there were creatures here that could really become a serious problem. The Ogre he had fought with before told him that if there were large creatures like this, then there was a chance that there were more creatures that could be much stronger and powerful out there.

Not to mention the fact that he knew that even the most secure defenses can be broken and bypassed. He should know, as he had broken into bases of the Insurrectionists more than once, along with a few Covenant bases in between. He recalled the time he and his team, had tried to break into the base of Insurrectionist General Howard Graves, the base had defenses and security measures that were impressive even by their standards and it took a lot of effort to break in. and after all they had done, they had been captured until Kurt freed them from the trap.

"Cortana, we might have a problem, if we leave the Dawn, how can we be able to keep it safe just in case other beings on this planet decide to get curious about it? I know the security doors are the only way it, but considering what the Dawn went through, what can stop the ship from being infiltrated?"

The A.I was silent for a moment and replied.

"I can use a copy of myself with advanced security protocols to keep an eye on the ship, if anything happens the copy of me can easily contact us by accessing the satellite we have upstairs and locate us for communications. We might need to take a Pelican to make it a lot faster. However that might present a problem."

"How so?"

"Well, we don't know the exact layout of the Night Elves' capital city for one, what happens if we try to land and suddenly wind up in a residential area or their market place? That's not going to make a good impression you know, not to mention the fact that we're really going to cause some damage. Even more so if we accidentally land into places which the Night Elves might consider sacred to their people. That will REALLY get us into hot water."

The Spartan nodded at that and decided that after the two Night Elves were done talking to one another.

….

"Lady Tyrande wishes to know more of this Chief?"

Jarrod nodded to Kaelyn, he had recounted his arrival to Darnassus to her when she had dinner and they had spent most of the night and early morning to talk about it. Apparently he had gotten into the Temple just as Fandral and Tyrande were in another serious and heated discussion, Tyrande had to work hard to keep her composure while Fandral had been busy releasing his latest attempt annoy and test the patience of the High Priestess. The discussion had been very much the same, Fandral insisting that the Night Elves should cut their ties with the Alliance and strike out on their own terms as a race and not rely in the Alliance for anything else that they could very well accomplish on their own.

Tyrande had managed to deal with that and while the newest speech had been defused, there was no doubt that the situation between her and Fandral was getting a lot more serious by the day. Add that to the daily duties ensuring her race's survival as well as maintaining a good relationship with the other members of the Alliance that they were currently part of, then it was going to become even more serious. The young Druid then finally gave his report to Lady Tyrande, and despite the fact that he was a Druid; he had some level of mistrust for Fandral for his own reasons.

Once he was done with his report of the events that had transpired only a few days before when he and his superior Kaelyn had been on patrol, Tyrande asked him to wait while she deliberated her decisions on this new discovery. It was hours later that she decided that it would be better that the owner of that ship….this Master Chief come to the capital city as soon as possible as there would be a meeting of several ambassadors from the other members of the Alliance in a much later date.

The reason was simple, she wanted to make sure that the Chief was under the watch of the Night Elves since technically he was in their lands and as such was under their jurisdiction. Tyrande's reasoning was simple, with the Alliance members currently dealing with various duties at this time, the last thing she wanted was for them to start causing more trouble for her people over the Dawn and the Spartan. After being told of the technology the Chief possessed and what Jarrod had revealed through magic, she knew that it was better that she ascertain the exact reason why he was here on their world in their lands as well.

That also was to determine if he was indeed sincere that he was not here to cause damage to their still recovering lands and would not use the technology for less than sincere use. The images of what such weapons could do to her people as well as her enemies was a great concern for Tyrande which was why she asked for the Spartan to be brought to the city as soon as it was possible.

Kaelyn shook her head at this and sighed, she understood some of the reasons of Tyrande's decision to have the Spartan brought to their capital city, but that certainly didn't mean that she was not opposed in some fashion to it either.

"Are you sure that this is what Lady Tyrande wants?"

"I am positive, there is no doubt that she wishes to meet this Chief herself."

Kaelyn ran through the idea of it, it would take at least a week and half at best to make it to the city on foot to Auberdine so they could take the boat to the village of Rut'theran, or they could drop by Astranaar to take a ride via Hippogryph to Auberdine, however, with that place routinely raided not just by Satyrs but rogue forces from the Horde on occasion, that might prove a bit dicey. Even though she had no doubt that the Chief would easily slaughter the enemy before him, she was not very much in the mood for him to unleash whatever weapon he had before the people of that village.

That was when the Spartan appeared and spoke to them.

"I will get you two some food before we go, how long will it take to get to your people's capital city?"

Jarrod told the Spartan what he knew and the Spartan shook his head, apparently showing that he didn't like the idea to say the least and his next statement made it very obvious to the two Night Elves.

"That will take too long and I will not leave the Dawn unprotected the way it is. Before we go, I'll need to give some extra security to the Dawn before we leave. I already have an answer on how to get to this city of yours, all I need is for someone to point the exact location of your capital city."

Kaelyn raised an eye brow at that and spoke.

"How do you plan to go to Darnassus if you don't like the routes we have told you?"

"We fly of course, how else do we get to this city of yours in the fastest possible time?"

Jarrod was surprised and tried not to be amused and replied.

"Uh….I hate sound offensive, but if you are suggesting that I carry you both while in crow form, then I am not doing it."

The Spartan was amused by that though neither Kaelyn nor Jarrod knew for sure and then pointed to one of the flying machines.

"We're flying in one of the Pelican Drop-ships you know."

Kaelyn and Jarrod look wide eyed at the Pelican that the Spartan was pointing at and the Night Elf quickly replied.

"I will not set foot in something like that."

"Then I am not going, I cannot leave this ship without securing it completely so you will have to get used to the idea, besides, the sooner I can meet this leader of yours, the quicker I can get back to doing what I can to make sure that no one gets the bright idea of attacking this ship while I am away."

Seeing that she had no other options at this point and knowing how serious her people's leader was, Kaelyn agreed. The Spartan then left and a few minutes later, managed to bring in some trays with food, Kaelyn got a tray with steamed vegetables and some hard boiled eggs with several slices of lamb meat while Jarrod received some hot potatoes which were cut into slices and fried with tomato sauce, some well cooked greens, and several slices of cooked beef.

As the Night Elves gingerly tried the food, the Druid had to admit that this being who called himself Chief seemed to be able to carry ample provisions and ate well. While they ate, the Chief then took out one of the Mongoose ATVs along with a number of advanced sensor units. He guided the vehicle out and with a sound that was a combination of roar and whine, the Spartan quickly began to set up a perimeter around the Dawn.

The sensor packages were using a variety of systems to detect anything that could pose as a threat to any location. Such features included a number of vision modules such as thermal, UV, Night Vision, and 3D. The next were audio and seismic sensors, as well as advanced motion sensors. The Spartan made sure to have them as a series of overlapping circles. It took some time but as soon as he was done with that requirement, he high tailed it back to the Dawn and arrived to Hanger and slid Cortana into the holo-tank to begin her work in securing the Dawn as well as creating a new vision mode for the MJOLNIR Mark VI that might prove useful in the long run.

Once that was done, he took the A.I with him as he checked to see that the Night Elves were finally fed for the day. Once he was sure, he guided them into the chosen Pelican and began to activate the core systems to bring the Drop-ship to full operational status. Once that was done, they were off as Cortana's clone opened the doors before them and out from the dawn came the Pelican and as soon as the data from the orbiting satellite came online to the Pelican, Cortana began to show the Chief the picture.

Kaelyn had to admit that the sight of the land moving below her before the door of the Pelican's troop bay closed was a bit shocking and slightly elating, yet the feel of being inside this…Pelican was unlike anything she had ever felt, she had never rode on any other form of flight transportation except the Hippogryph, to think that she was actually flying in something like this was….unsettling.

….

As they approached the island where Darnassus was supposed to be Cortana appeared on a nearby holo-tank and showed the island on the palm of her hand as she spoke to the Spartan, they were moving through cloud cover so they were not able to see the island just yet.

"We're nearing the island, but according to the satellite feed, the only thing down there is one small village and a large mass that it's still trying to identify. Are you sure your capital city is on this island?"

Kaelyn nodded at that and so did Jarrod, just as the Spartan guided the Pelican down and then they got the information from the satellite, and to Cortana's surprise the mass in question was organic, a tree of all things as it was revealed on the holo-display.

"What is this?"

Jarrod spoke.

"That is the new World Tree Teldrassil, and in it is where our capital city Darnassus is located."

The Spartan and the A.I turned soon saw the World Tree itself. Created by Fandral and a number of Druids, the new World Tree was the new center of the Night Elf civilization and was an example of the power of the Night Elves when it came to nature it self . It was the bastion of life for the people of Kaelyn and Jarrod, but it had a dark side to it as well, but neither Night Elf would reveal it, Kaelyn would not because she had no idea on the matter in full detail, and Jarrod, due to the fact that he knew that the Tree was not fully embraced by all beings of nature.

Cortana looked at the massive World Tree known as Teldrassil and whistled as the Pelican flew towards the island. John himself was very much surprised by the sheer height, size, and scale of the whole thing before him. This tree would dwarf just about anything that he had seen on a planet's surface, only the Space Elevators used by the UNSC in many of their major cities and colonies were the ones that came close to this.

Cortana commented on that fact already.

"That tree is as big as a Space Elevator and just as high, though not that much…what EXACTLY did you feed to that thing to make it that tall and wide?"

Kaelyn and Jarrod were confused and the Druid was the one to speak.

"Pardon, but what is a…Space Elevator?"

Cortana gave them a brief rundown of the specifics while the Chief continued to pilot the Pelican as well as look at the tree. The Space Elevator was a colossal structure used by the UNSC to ferry supplies and materials from the planet to a platform in space for transport off planet. Compared to the Gravity Lift system used by the Covenant, the Space Elevator was crude and fairly basic in design, but to the UNSC and Humanity, the Space Elevators were the cornerstone of transporting supplies and materials from world to world. The first Space Elevator used on Earth was the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator built in the early days of the 24th Century and that cemented New Mombasa's importance as an economic and strategic asset for the UNSC and Earth, ever since then the use of Space Elevators was key to the growth of the UNSC in it's early days. They were well built for damage and usually had artificial islands to serve as the base and the area where cargo carriers were stationed for distribution to the surface of their loads.

Many such elevators were lost in the war with the Covenant and the Flood so it was somewhat amazing to see something like this tree that came close to being a Space Elevator in it's own right.

The Spartan turned a bit to see the two Night Elves being shown a picture of one such Elevator while Cortana explained the importance of them to the UNSC. When it was done the Night Elves were looking at the A.I with amazement, Jarrod was the one to speak out.

"You…were to create something that went beyond the very sky? How? How is that possible without magic?"

The A.I was confused and asked what exactly the Druid meant by that statement.

"What do you mean by that?"

Jarrod gulped a bit and replied.

"Teldrassil was created by the current head of the Cenarion Circle, Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm and a number of Druids were able to use their magic to create Teldrassil to serve as our capital city and new home as well as….well that's about it as far as I recall."

"You're saying that this leviathan sized tree your people call home was made through magic?"

"Yes."

The Spartan was stunned by the implications of such a statement, to think that magic was powerful enough to make a tree grow to the size of a Space Elevator. It was for the lack of a better word, unnerving, not a good feeling for anyone, even more so for a Spartan, he activated the special vision mode that Cortana developed, this would allow him to see the energy aura of anything that might have magic, or anyone who could use magic.

And what he saw was enough to make him feel even more unnerved, the WHOLE tree radiated magic, right down the end of the roots to the leaves. He had to tune down the vision mode's parameters in order to avoid being blinded by the energy he was seeing from the tree itself and when he could see it better, he couldn't help but be impressed somewhat.

Cortana likewise was impressed as she had calibrated the Pelican's scanners to allow her to look at the tree differently; once she was done scanning the tree carefully and recording all that she had seen and evaluated. she turned to the Night Elves and spoke to them.

"I am impressed, your people have some serious talents with magic."

Jarrod's skin turned dark purple, showing that he was actually blushing, somehow the praise from a being like Cortana made the young Night Elf Druid of the Claw a bit embarrassed, the fact that she looked like a nude human female might have added to the embarrassment of course. Kaelyn noted that and gently elbowed her subordinate and he looked at his superior with a look of apology.

The Night Elf Sentinel then looked at the Spartan, his companion that he referred to as an…A.I, whatever that meant, and this flying machine that they were in, along with the image of what they had called the Space Elevator. Her mind running through such a discovery, to think that Humans from this….UNSC could actually recreate such a thing without magic, the Humans in the Alliance were very capable in many things and even in the field of technology, though they relied heavily on the aid of the Dwarves of Ironforge and the Gnomes to develop technology.

But these humans of the UNSC, their inventions surpassed just about anything and everything the Alliance could ever conceive in their life times in her eyes. The weapons she had seen the Spartan carry, and the vehicles as well terrified her, they made anything the Dwarves and Gnomes cook up look like toys and that further added to the fear she had which was very thick, as most of her kind viewed technology as an inherently destructive force and was a sin to nature.

She had no problem imaging the effects the weapons would have on her people if the Spartan ever turned on them, but she recalled how the Spartan had healed her comrades as well, she had talked with them before they left, and found their wounds fully healed and recovered afterwards. This told her that the technology he had was not always limited to war, though she was still not going to trust the Spartan all that much just yet, she still hoped to Elune that she was doing the right thing by allowing this being into their capital city.

….

As the Pelican moved to the area, the Druid showed them the location of the village known as Rut'theran Village, the Spartan guided the machine down to the outskirts just as Jarrod left the now open deployment bay, he was then followed by the Night Elf Sentinel, both Kaelyn and Jarrod were greeted by the Night Elves who resided in the outpost village and they were happy to finally be there. Kaelyn was soon greeted by an old friend, a female Night Elf Hunter named Sandra Moon feather, she was dressed in her usual mail armor that she had learned to use many years before and she had a pair of swords on either side her hips, a short sword and a long sword as well as her trademark longbow, on her side was a large wolf that she knew was White Claw.

Sandra smiled at her old friend and spoke to her quickly.

"It's good to see you again old friend."

"Same to you, I wasn't expecting you to be back home after that last mission however."

Sandra smiled a bit and replied.

"I needed to get some fresh supplies, besides; I was planning to see if there are some new tasks here in Darnassus that might need someone of my skills. But enough about that…what in the name of Elune is that thing?"

Kaelyn looked to where her friend was pointing at and knew that she was referring to the 'Pelican' Drop-ship that she and Jarrod had come out from, and she was not the only one as the other Night Elves, young and old, male and female looked at the large vessel. The Night Elf Sentinel tried to think of the right words to explain to her long time friend what the machine was, but she had no idea on where to even start.

But that was placed aside as the Night Elves were quick to recoil and some cried out in even greater surprise when they spotted a behemoth in green and black armor with a golden plate in it's face. The thing moved out from the back of the massive machine that came out from the sky and soon began to look at the gathered crowd.

….

Cortana, who was now in the MJOLNIR Mark VI smirked a bit and spoke to her long time protector.

"You've got quite a crowd."

The Spartan rolled his eyes at that and decided to lock down the Pelican, unmindful of the way the rest of the Night Elf villagers were looking. The Spartan knew that this was not going to be easy and no matter what happened, he was not going to let one strand of UNSC technology fall in the hands of any native on this world. Cortana however had a private conversation with him while he was locking down the Drop-ship.

"By the way Chief, did you notice something about that massive tree's energy readings?"

The Spartan nodded, it had taken some re-calibrating but he had seen a good amount of sickly green energy mingling with the tree's other energies, similar to the same kind of sickly green that he had seen from the Warlocks, only in this case, it was even thicker and stronger than before. That was not surprising given the sheer size of this Teldrassil, yet the fact that the tree was emitting energy that was used by Warlocks was troubling to the pair.

"Yes, that demands an explanation, but I doubt we're going to get the information from anyone here in the village, the best one will have to be the leader Tyrande Whisperwind. Let's get the Pelican locked down and get a move on."

….

Sandra was surprised at the massive form that had just appeared out of the flying machine. Unlike most of her other kin, she had traveled far and wide so she was very familiar with the other things that existed in the world that they were part of. Being a Hunter for many years after the Third War and her time as a Sentinel herself made her realize the wideness of the world, which was why after the War she became a Hunter and traveled the lands after retiring from the Sentinels. She had been to the continent of Azeroth and had even skirted near Lordaeron on a few occasions and had clashed with Orcs on more than one instance. She had even managed to travel into the land of the Dwarves, entering their capital city known as Ironforge.

That was why she was a little bit more open minded then most of her kin, and she had seen a lot of things which was why she was not as adverse to technology as her sisters where, however she had to admit that she had never seen anything like this before. It resembled one of the Gnome's flying machines but this was different in every respect, it looked better armored and armed for one and seemed to be very capable in carrying people.

But what got her attention was the armored being that was somehow tapping something that resembled a glowing number of small symbols as the door suddenly closed. This being was large almost to the height of one of her race's male kin. The thing resembled a Golem made from metal but it was human sized. She had heard of mages and warlocks being able to make Golems and had even seen the process herself in her long travels, but she had never seen a Golem that was human sized, and the way it moved was very much like a living being, yet it did it at a much faster and precise pace.

And she spotted the weapons on it's back and thighs, the larger thing resembled a rifle that she had seen some humans carry as well as the dwarves and gnomes could use, but it seemed slimmer, more compact, even elegant compared to some of the rifles that she had seen the dwarves and humans carry, she also couldn't see any packs of gunpowder and ammunition on this being so how could that thing work?

She also looked at the guns on it's thighs, they were unlike anything she had seen, they were larger than the pistols that were carried by the two other races, and yet small compared the larger one that was on the back of the giant of a being.

White Claw growled a bit and was tensed as it looked at the being and Sandra calmed her pet and spoke in Darnassian to her friend.

"What in the name of Elune is that thing?"

Kaelyn replied to that.

"A human if you can believe that Sister."

The Hunter looked unconvinced at that and replied.

"Kaelyn you can't be serious, I have traveled for a very long time beyond Kalimdor and have seen the humans before, both in towns, and in groups, I have even been to their city of Stormwind and I have never seen a human that wore armor like that. It looks, different, very different from what I have seen humans wear. And those weapons of his, they look like guns used by the humans and the dwarves, yet different at the same time."

"I know Sister, I've seen what that one on it's back can do first hand."

"How?"

Kaelyn told her friend the story quickly just as the massive human walked over to them and spoke in a voice that spoke of strength and more besides in Common.

"The Pelican is secured, so how do we get into Darnassus?"

Kaelyn sighed and bid goodbye to her friend, but Sandra insisted to come along and now the two women and the lone Druid escorted the giant, the other Night Elves were murmuring to themselves as they had heard the conversation between the two friends, they couldn't help but ask if that thing really was human.

As they arrived at the Portal that would serve as the only access point to the city the Spartan looked about the town studying it, already running through several key bits of information. Judging by the port there and the number of houses as well as what appeared to be some sort of stable, this place was somewhat similar to a fishing village that served as a dock. Considering that this was an island it would make sense that the only way here was by boat, though he had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the village than he had seen so far. It was fairly well guarded, judging by the number of guards there at the village and how well armed they were, it would make sense since this would be the only port in and out of the island.

He then looked at the portal and spotted the guards who were also well armed and to his surprise, he spotted some of the Night Elf women riding what appeared to be tigers easily the size of one of the Warthog vehicles back at the Dawn. He had no idea what they were but they seemed to be around the same caliber as the now extinct Saber Tooth Tigers back on Earth. The massive creatures growled at their approach and it took a moment for him to resist the urge to take out his MA5C and reduce the giant cats into confetti.

He was here to get answers and intelligence not start a fire fight in the middle of the capital of the Night Elves.

The trio talked to the guards in Darnassian, unwittingly allowing Cortana to gather samples of their language for her translation program. The group escorting him spoke to the guards and after a few minutes of chatting, the head guard, judging from the heavier armor and insignia she had on moved forward to speak to the Master Chief in Common.

"Elune be with you Chief, I am Captain Freya Stareye, we have been told that High Priestess Tyrande has granted you permission to come to Darnassus."

"She sent word?"

"That she did, sadly I cannot leave my post here as my duty is to safeguard this place, however I am going to make some rules, this is not for inconvenience but for the safety of our people as well as our leader. I will assign one of my fellow guards to escort you to the Temple to meet with our High Priestess but before you enter the Temple you must surrender your weapons before entering there."

The Spartan thought about that, those were sound precautions though he doubted that they would stop him if things got bad and he would have to fight. But he was here for information gathering, not assault or assassination so he nodded and replied.

"I will do as you ask."

Freya smiled as she could sense that this being before her was telling the truth, she had been a veteran as well of the Third war and knew when people were lying to her in one form or another. She then nodded to one of her fellow guards and the guard stepped forward and spoke in Common.

"Come and follow me."

….

As soon as they entered the Portal, the Spartan and his A.I companion had to admit that the place was certainly impressive, the buildings were made in medieval style with wood and stone, however, the way the buildings were made reflected a very open air and meditative quality to it. There was an air of Melancholy around it which would have to be explored for the later part of the day.

The guard was direct in guiding the Spartan and the three towards the Temple of Elune, and the Spartan had to give the place credit, it was as large as an old style cathedral of the Christian faith, a Mosque of the Islam faith, and a Synagogue of the Judaism, three central faiths in the UNSC's history.

Cortana would have wanted to gather more information on the rest of the city but she knew that the sooner they met with Tyrande then all the better. Of course the arrival of the Spartan was more than enough to get a number of Night Elves as well as few other beings to take notice. There were murmurings and comments, some sounded odd, others with a mix of hostility and the like, apart from that where the usual conversations that took place between those who were too busy to notice what was going on, at least at first. All of which were being recorded and logged in by Cortana while John looked at the buildings, they were well built but he doubted that they were designed to handle being hit by heavy weapons if a serious attack happened.

However he kept in mind that even if an invading army was able to take out the guards in the village below, the portal was the only way in and that was a perfect bottleneck area for the defenders to set up a kill zone around the portal and wipe out their targets piece meal as they would move in small groups or one at a time.

He had to give the Night Elves credit, they knew their stuff.

As they arrived at the Temple entrance, the guard turned and spoke to the Spartan.

"I believe this is where your weapons will be left behind."

The Spartan looked to see a large wooden box, apparently constructed of powerful wood and reinforced by thick metal. This was where his gear was going to be placed it. He hesitated for a brief moment but decided to get things done in order to meet Tyrande and show that he was not here as a threat.

He removed his MA5C and released the magazine from the back end of the weapon, he then moved the firing bolt back to remove the 7,62x51mm FMJ AP round that was still in the chamber and catching the round easily with a flick of the hand, he then loaded the released bullet back into the magazine that he had just released. He meticulously checked the gun and did a test fire aimed to the ground, the gun clicked and the Night Elves tensed, especially Kaelyn who had seen this weapon in action already and knew the result of it if it was aimed at a living being.

The weapon however fired nothing, to the Spartan's satisfaction as he clicked the safety switch; he placed the rifle into the nearby box and then removed the eleven other magazines that he had with him. He then removed the M7 SMGs from his thighs and clicked their safety switches as well and then placed them next to the MA5C as well as their accompanying magazines. Once that was done and the box had been closed and the guard ordered several other female guards to watch over the gear, he faced Kaelyn and Jarrod as well as Sandra and replied.

"That's it."

Kaelyn was not entirely convinced but seeing that she had no other options nodded as she and Jarrod decided to go ahead and report in to the Temple to inform High Priestess Tyrande that they had arrived.

This made the Spartan wait for a while but he was not bothered by it as this allowed him to further study the city of Darnassus as well as allow Cortana to gather more samples of the Darnassian language to help with her translation program construction. So far, he can scan the area and begin to get a feel of the city while waiting for word if and when he could enter the Temple. After all, he couldn't just walk in there uninvited since the place happened to be the place of worship and the hub of government of the Night Elves. That was when Cortana spoke out to the Spartan in a private conversation.

"Not a bad city if I do say so myself, not the same as New Mombasa in it's glory days or the cities on Reach, but good enough."

"Right, how's the program going?"

"As well as can be expected, no warning from the Dawn yet, I guess we can rest easy for now. Though I can bet our arrival has attracted attention, the only question is if it's the benevolent or the hostile kind?"

….

Elsewhere…

David Thurston looked carefully at the human sized giant in green and black armor that was standing near the Temple of Elune. The Warrior from Stormwind had to admit that the sight of this juggernaut was surprising to him in all respects. When he had just come out from the nearby inn he had heard an increase in commotion and decided to take a look and see just what had gotten the Night Elves in a ruckus.

And now he what it was…

This being was carrying something that vaguely resembled guns yet were totally different from what he had seen. After all, he was a member of the 7th Legion, the elite forces of the Alliance, he had been here on a personal assignment to deliver a set of letter from one of his fellow soldiers who was a Night Elf who wanted to check up on her family. After delivering the letters, he was about to head home after grabbing some food and drink when he spotted this being.

(What in the name of the Light is that thing?)

The Alliance warrior scratched his head and decided to try and get closer to see the being. As he did so, he marveled at the armor, it was totally unlike anything he had seen before in his life yet there was no doubt that it was well constructed, there were signs of battle on it as there were some scorched and melted areas as well as gashes. This showed to the human that this being was no stranger to fighting.

He decided to leave and head back to Stormwind, while he had no idea on what was going on, he decided it would be best if he informed his superiors, this might be important to Alliance command and would be helpful in what they needed to do.

….

In a few minutes, out came Kaelyn and Jarrod came back out and the Night Elf Sentinel then spoke to the Spartan in Common.

"Chief, you can come into the Temple now, High Priestess Tyrande will meet you there at the second level in the few minutes."

John nodded and walked into the Temple, as soon as he was in, he was quick to take a scan of the entire area, and the place was certainly good in terms of appearance in design, there was a statue of a Night Elf raising up a giant dish that had flowing water coming out of it. The place also had well made gardens that were there and naturally, there was a large hall there as well.

The Spartan looked at the temple interior once more, only this time he was studying to it to determine the defensibility of this location and how it could be infiltrated by the enemy if this place was ever attacked.

That was when someone arrived and this one was dressed in the same manner as Jarrod, telling him that he was a Druid, the only difference was that his clothing and manner were more related to someone of high authority. There was also an aura of someone used to power and demanded respect from others because of said position. That was when John was informed that Cortana that she had nearly finished the translation program and decided to give it a test run.

Jarrod recognized the new arrival and spoke in Darnassian to Kaelyn.

"That is Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm, what is he doing here all of a sudden?"

"I do not know…"

This time John recognized the words being spoken by the two Night Elves and realized that the one before him was someone of high rank, but he was not liking the way this being carried himself and the way the Night Elf looked at him was filled with contempt, more than enough to prove that this guy was a person with a superiority complex. That was then the person spoke once more in Darnassian, only this time the Spartan could understand him.

"Who is this person here?"

Jarrod spoke as several more Night Elves came into the temple in their usual routines.

"He is a guest of High Priestess Tyrande Arch Druid…"

"Really now? I was under the impression that Tyrande was not expecting anyone to come here to meet with her today. What exactly is this thing anyway?"

The two Night Elves were not sure how to respond but Jarrod was about to speak when the Arch Druid moved over to face the Spartan and loomed over him, using his height and physical build to his advantage.

"He is a human."

Fandral raised an eye brow at that and looked at the Spartan with a sneering look, something that was beginning to annoy the Spartan.

"A Human you say, what manner of nonsense is this? No human dresses like this and if he is truly human, why does he hide his face?"

Kaelyn then replied.

"We do not know why he does not reveal his face Arch Druid, but he chooses to keep it as such and as he has not harmed anyone then we cannot force him."

"Indeed…"

That was when Fandral spoke in Common and this time the Master Chief was the one being spoke to.

"Let me ask you something human…if you are indeed human, who are you and what is your business here?"

Fandral's attempt to intimidate the Spartan II Commando however was doomed to failure as the Spartan was unmoved. John had faced many terrors in his long and illustrious career, he had faced the Mgalekgolo or more commonly known as the Hunters, these monstrous beings that were comprised of massive worm like beings that were linked together while being a separate being at the same time, and of course, he had faced the Jiralhanae of the Brutes as they were known, carnivorous beings with a love for violence and bloodshed as well as deadly fanatics to the Covenant cause.

Both races were massive beings, the Hunters nearly well over twelve to thirteen feet and would easily slaughter entire platoons of UNSC combat personnel on their own due to their armor, weaponry, and ferocity. The Brutes were at the height of eight, eight and a half, to nine feet tall and had strength to rival even the Hunters as they were known to even kill Hunters in hand to hand combat especially when in a berserker rage.

This was why the Spartan was not intimidated in the least and he made that obvious to the Arch Druid as he replied in Common which this being no doubt understood well enough.

"I have a matter to discuss with your people's official leader, and you are blocking my path, either get out of my way on your own power, or I will make you move out my way."

Fandral growled at that and spoke in a more feral tone, showing his contempt at the Spartan.

"How dare you say that to me? Do you know who you are talking to?"

"I know full well who you are, Arch Druid Fandral Staghelm, but I do not care, you are not the officially recognized leader of the Night Elves, Tyrande Whisperwind is, and I have business with her, not you."

Fandral became even angrier while Kaelyn and Jarrod were surprised, as far as they knew, the Spartan and the Arch Druid had never met, so how does the Spartan know Fandral?

As for the Night Elf in question, he could see his angered expression being reflected right back at him by the Spartan's and it further enraged him that this being or whatever he was didn't seem to be bothered by his actions and he was not pleased by this at all.

"Be careful who you speak to human, or if you are human…"

….

Tyrande had observed this for a while as she was about to enter the room, like the other Night Elves who were in the Temple she had stopped in surprise to see the Spartan as he walked into the Temple. Though she had been told by Jarrod about this 'Chief' she had not believed that he was entirely what the young Druid described, now she realized that she would have to rethink that train of thought.

She had to admit that this human, if he truly was one underneath all that unknown armor, was very interesting. Most beings would have been intimidated by Fandral due to his stature and height, but this Chief seemed neither to notice nor care about that kind of detail, and as she moved in closer without alerting anyone, she found some level of amusement at the look of livid rage on the Arch Druid's face. The normal arrogance and smugness of the Arch Druid was gone as the Chief continued to be unmoved and from the way Fandral was acting, he might as well even try to goad this Chief into a fight.

As much as she personally would love to see Fandral be taken down a peg or two, she knew that fighting in the Temple of Elune was forbidden, not only that, a fight would have serious ramifications for all parties involved. With that in mind she spoke to the pair before her.

"What is going on here?"

The two stopped and Fandral moved aside to allow the Spartan to finally meet Tyrande Whisperwind herself. John took in the details, like all the Night Elf females he had already met, Tyrande was a very beautiful woman, she had the build of her female kindred and had deep blue hair, similar to the hair that Kelly had when she dyed it when they were still young, though he had a feeling that Tyrande's hair color was natural. The clothing she wore, while simple compared to some of the fashion dresses he had seen on holo-screens before in civilian centers in the UNSC, suited her well along with the adornments that showed her place as leader of her people.

However he could sense a great deal of power in her. She moved with the grace of a warrior and her glowing eyes were focused, and clear in their meaning. Not only that, he ran his special vision mode and saw that she was a bonfire of magic as well, there was magic which pure healthy green without any blemishes. The bow she carried also looked simple but was well made after he returned to his normal vision mode, she was every bit as was described to him by the Night Elf Sentinel.

One thing was for sure, this would be a very interesting conversation.

Cortana also commented as she spoke in private with her Spartan.

"She's not bad looking to say the least, and her magic levels are really high. I suggest you do your best to be nice John, she is a head of state and a veteran warrior at that."

"Right."

Fandral turned and spoke unaware of the conversation between the A.I and the Spartan.

"Who is this stranger you have given permission to enter the Temple Tyrande?"

The woman sighed mentally and got ready for what was going to be another war of words between her and Fandral.

"He is the one told to me by Druid Jarrod, apparently he had come from an unknown world and landed here in our lands. He was tracked by Sentinel Kaelyn and her patrol, but when the patrol was attacked by Orcs of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, he came to their aid and slaughtered the Orcs with his weapons."

Tyrande then looked at the Spartan and offered a slight smile as she spoke in Common.

"Greetings you….Chief, I suppose you know who I am?"

The Spartan nodded and did something that he had heard about that people did to greet people of high rank back in the medieval days and decided to try it out. He gave a bow to the Night Elf and spoke with as much a respectful tone as he could,.

"I know who you are, you are High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of the Sisters of Elune and veteran Commander of the Third War, Your Sentinel Kaelyn Nightwalker spoke highly of you."

Tyrande was amused by that and replied.

"Indeed? I thank you for the greeting, although I have been told by Jarrod of the name you prefer to be used, I would like to hear your full name and rank if you do not mind."

The Spartan nodded and still stood ramrod straight and replied.

"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the UNSC Navy, at your service High Priestess Tyrande."

The woman nodded as she could tell that today was going to be a very interesting discussion, the only thing she was happy for was that none of the other Alliance ambassadors were here at the moment as who knew how they would react to what was soon to come.

….

To be continued…

….

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this one, I'll be cracking out a new chapter soon enough but my wrists and arms need a break from all the writing so the new chapters might take a while.

Anyway, I have to point out some about a comment given to me about me revealing the technology and vehicles of the UNSC to the Night Elves something.

There's already technology in the world of Warcraft, so I don't see how revealing the vehicles used by the Chief could be wrong. Anyone who's played the Warcraft series knows there are already fire-arms, explosives, steam powered tanks, zeppelins, mechanical pets, flying machines, submarines, steam powered armor, and more besides in the lore of the World of Warcraft. Technology is already in full swing in this world so I can't really see how revealing UNSC technology is completely wrong.

However, exposure of UNSC vehicles and equipment naturally will be very minimum and will not be all that serious yet since there is no reason for John to get all that revealing with his gear. At the moment, the only thing that has been seen is one of the Pelican Drop-ships and that is a good thing since John is more familiar with that sort of thing. Besides, I have my doubts that any flying mount in the world of Warcraft can carry a being wearing a powered armor suit that weighs a full half ton.

As much as the idea of seeing the Master Chief riding a Gryphon or a Hippogryph is going to be mind boggling, I kind of feel sorry for said animals if they tried to carry the Spartan.

Anyway, on to the next chapter after I recover and soon we shall have updates for the other stories.


	4. Chapter 4

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own WoW or Halo all right?

Chapter 3

Gathering information…

( ): Thoughts

…

Inside the archives of the Temple of the Moon…

The Libraries hidden in the Temple were extensive indeed and no doubt there would be a lot more information as well that he would be able to get his hands on. Naturally the alphabet was unknown to the Spartan but he was able to get the chance to understand it later once he was done looking at them as this would allow Cortana to gather the information.

The Spartan poured over maps, pictures, scrolls and more while moving with relaxed patience and focus one each book and scroll that was located there in the library, he knew that there would be even more sources of information in the city that he would be able to look into at a much later date. Cortana was humming a classical song in her mind while she took in all the information with a smile and filing it all away, her now freed brain being more than enough to help with the task.

John was naturally not alone in the library as none other than Kaelyn and Tyrande were there in the library, the two Night Elves were currently observing the Spartan who stood as he poured through the books, maps, and scrolls looking for a few minutes to half an hour or so before moving to the next one.

Kaelyn then spoke to the High Priestess.

"High Priestess, what do you think of him?"

Tyrande sighed a bit and replied.

"The Chief, as he prefers to be recognized as, is a very interesting being, he might come from a society that does not know anything about magic, but he is quite capable. Jarrod's description of his battle skills are proof of that, and what we have seen adds further weight to his story. As for him personally, I do not know, he certainly is a dangerous being, of that there is no doubt, but he seems to be sincere about his desire to be left alone."

Kaelyn nodded at that as the two of them watched as the Spartan continued to pour through the tomes and scrolls before him, and this time, they had no doubt that the glowing female being that was with him was helping the Spartan. The moment the being known as Cortana revealed herself to Tyrande and the others in the Temple with a smile was actually the most shocking part of the whole discussion as they had never seen anything like her before. She was like w wisp, yet she was not a dead being or a spirit, but in her own words a….program, a being made of information created by humans from this…UNSC that the Spartan was part of.

That was how the discussion started, but at that same time, there was also Fandral who spoke seriously about the fact that the Spartan was wearing such armor, and he demanded that the Chief removed his helmet. The sight that greeted her and the other Night Elves was something that she was not going to forget easily.

….

Flashback…

The Spartan seemed hesitant for a moment until Cortana faded away back into his Armor and then, after another moment or two the Spartan removed his helmet with a snap and a hiss. Needless to say the Night Elves there in the Temple who were female were surprised to suddenly see that the Spartan was indeed human, namely Kaelyn as she had been expecting him to be many things once he revealed himself to them, he could have been some sort of demon underneath the armor, a living being of death and carnage as she had seen from him, a battle scarred warrior who's visage spoke of death just from a glance, many things in her mind, just not this.

The Chief was pale, almost to the point of being an albino, and yet, he didn't seem to have any weaknesses to say the very least, in fact the man seemed to be at the peak of health. Kaelyn knew enough about male humans to see that the Master Chief was actually quite handsome, strong, well chiseled features without any flaws at all. He had brown hair that was cut in what seemed like a military style haircut which seemed to actually suit him as it gave him the aura of a veteran soldier which he no doubt was to begin with. His skin while pale was also flawless and didn't have any facial hair at all on his face, and the most telling was his eyes.

His eyes were deep brown and they glowed in an inner fire that seemed to be cool and calm at the moment but there was no denying the power that was hidden there in those brown orbs. His gaze was also very different from a normal human, it was calculating, intense, focused, with hints of sadness, absolute confidence, as well as patience.

(The eyes of a man who would study you carefully, taking in full detail of your whole being… the kind any woman would be feeling pleasant shivers if he was…)

Kaelyn quickly shook her head mentally to focus on other things.

As soon as that was done, the Spartan turned to the Arch Druid and calmly replied.

"So does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Fandral seemed to be silent as he gazed at the Spartan and then nodded as he spoke.

"It does, now then, where are you from?"

The Spartan then placed his helmet right back on and his face was soon hidden under a snap and hiss as the seals for the MJOLNIR Mark VI sealed the helmet once more.

….

End of Flashback…

Tyrande recalled that and smiled a bit as she spoke.

"For a supposed demon, he looked rather nice to the, I can tell that you were affected Sentinel Nightwalker."

Kaelyn blushed a bit and nodded, she was indeed affected by the appearance of the Spartan without the helmet and face plate to hide his features and she had no doubt that she was not the only female in the Temple affected by it. Tyrande gently laughed to herself and then looked at the Spartan as he seemed focused on gathering the information that he came to get from their archives.

As she gazed at him, the High Priestess began to recall the conversation about the UNSC as both the Spartan and his companion Cortana revealed the information about the UNSC which Cortana revealed as she used her updated holographic BIOS to create holograms that took over the whole room of the first level of the Temple.

….

Flashback…

Needless to say she and her fellow Night Elves surprised by the images they saw that Cortana began to provide for them as she gathered the information she had stored away though she had decided to leave behind the information of the Halo Array and the Forerunners for now as this was considerably sensitive information and would best be kept hidden away from anyone, even their potential allies the Night Elves. After all, the knowledge that somewhere in this galaxy if it was possible, were weapons that could purge the entire galaxy of all living things would prove to be rather troubling to the people of this world.

The data that the A.I had shown them was the history of the UNSC in the beginning, though the A.I withheld the name of the UNSC core home-world of Earth or it's exact location, along with any other data that by UNSC standards was considered 'EYES ONLY'. The images highlighted the expansion of the UNSC from Earth and the development of the Slipspace drive, which was something that was a lot harder to explain than most, but John and Cortana finally explained that it was a technological equivalent to a portal made by magic. The Night Elves watched as the humans of the UNSC begin to build what in their eyes was a ship in the very sea of stars.

As the Night Elves watched the UNSC build their colonies and their fleets in the very void of the stars, it was naturally shocking to think that humans who had no knowledge of magic could be able to do such feats and accomplish such things that to the Night Elves, in fact to the whole races of Azeroth, was something only the Draenei were able to do, and to their amazement, instead of destroying whole tracks of land for their own needs, the humans of this UNSC were able to actually live a life that was in balance with nature as there were still beautiful lands and forests around their cities.

The Spartan continued to explain to them how the UNSC developed the technology they had and the Night Elves finally saw their fleets and armies. The reaction of the Night Elves to the sight of the ODSTs was a bit shocking, and that was natural as not everyone saw soldiers drop from the very sky in the same devices he had used to land on their world and come out in armor that was unlike what they had seen before. The UNSC Army and the UNSC Marine Corps were also surprising as they had never seen the kinds of gear that these human men and women used.

The Night Elves were also surprised to see the kinds of vehicles and weapons the UNSC soldiers used in battle, Kaelyn was no stranger to the effectiveness of such weapons in battle and Tyrande had been told about how deadly those weapons were thanks to Jarrod showing the memories of the battle through magic. Both women and just about all the others in the Temple were very much surprised and worried about the sheer carnage such weapons could bring into the field of battle as well as in deep space when the UNSC warships went to war.

Naturally Tyrande was very serious about her next question and that was why the people in the Master Chief's reality would rely on such weapons and technology to wage wars. The Spartan then replied that they had faced enemies that would warrant such weaponry and even though the Night Elves thought that these weapons were destructive, the weapons and forces of their enemies were even worse. Their enemy was a collection of races united by religion and faith, calling themselves the Covenant. However, he replied that he would need to keep that information a bit more secret since he was not sure how the Night Elves would react to the images that they were going to see if he showed it all to them.

That was when Fandral spoke out.

"We have faced the very wrath of the Burning Legion and the encroachment of our lands by the lesser races, as well as the predations of the Scourge and countless other threats as well as that traitor Illidan and his hordes of Naga. How can your enemies equal that?"

The Spartan looked at everyone else in the room and decided that since they were serious about this, he decided to show them one of the key battles in the UNSC-Covenant War, and it was just one of the first battles that was soon to follow. He however told them that what they were about to see was going to be very disturbing, Fandral snorted at that and both Kaelyn and Sandra as well as Jarrod and the Night Elves looked on.

The Spartan showed them a beautiful world known as Helios 017, one of the colonized worlds in what they were told were the Outer Colonies of the UNSC, the capital city of New Athens was located there, and it was a very large and bustling metropolis with a large population numbering at last three million people, young and old. It had a heavy Marine and Army garrison force of at least fifty thousand soldiers, complete with everything that they would need as well as a small but mobile orbital defense fleet.

It did them nothing as the Covenant came and for the first time, the Night Elves where shown just what was happening as the Covenant descended on the city of New Athens.

In moments, the Spartan's records showed the UNSC fighting their best to keep the Covenant forcers from descending on the planet's surface, but the Covenant ships which were pointed out by the Spartan were able to brush the ships aside. And soon the battle was about to begin as more UNSC ships from Frigates to Destroyers and even the massive Cruisers came on site to fight as the Spartan and his own team of Spartans were well on their way to the surface to aid the exhausted and shell shocked survivors.

The city that was once rather massive and beautiful even the Night Elf standards was now turned into a hellish place, building reduced to rubble, fires were everywhere, trails of glowing energy flew as the UNSC flying machines shown to be Short swords, Longswords and Hornets were waging a brutal aerial war with Covenant air forces which was somewhat the same as when the aerial mounts of the Alliance and Horde would fight another, but those mounts were replaced by machines instead, while those forces clashed and fought with sheer ferocity over the now blackened skies, the once massive towers of the city were now torn and ruined as fires and smoke filled the sky.

The Night Elves found themselves unable to move as they looked at the images before them and around them, the battle in space was shocking enough, but as soon as the Spartan and his companions hit the surface of the now ravaged city and hearing the Spartan give his orders, they finally saw the real carnage on the ground.

All around them were buildings that were ruined and blackened, vehicles upturned and burning, the screams of the living were there as well, and then they saw the bodies of the humans of this UNSC. All around the Spartan and his comrades were people, twisted and mutilated to take brutal parodies of the human body's ability to move, literal rivers of blood were flowing everywhere before they eyes, and there were pools of it as well. The bodies of young children, teenagers, and adults filled the streets and the ruined buildings, many of them sporting horrific wounds, some had limbs and even heads removed, their innards revealed in the harsh light of combat. It was not limited to just civilians, as soldiers wearing UNSC Body Armor and carrying weapons were there, their bodies bleeding heavily from severe wounds, others were burned by plasma fire that parts of their bodies had sometimes been scorched to the point that they were hardly recognizable.

All throughout the city were the screams of the dying, the wounded, and those who were killed without mercy. The record stopped and showed a lone Marine being interrogated by a lone Sangheili Ultra who was surrounded by a number of Jackals who were chattering hungrily, their blood thirsty eyes glued to the wounded Marine as he was being held up by his neck by his captor, he right arm hanging on through a few strands of skin and flesh while a river of blood flowed down his legs. Cortana then increased the volume of the recording and zoomed the image to make the whole thing larger for all to see.

"You fought well for such a weak thing heretic, you Humans have true courage and honor to fight us even if your death is the will of the Gods. Know that we are not without mercy, I shall grant you a swift and painless death."

The marine, his face twisted in pain and hatred his name being shown as Corporal Franklin Dallas, spat back at the Elite.

"…Go…to….Hell, you… split lipped…xeno-bastard!"

The Sangheili gave a sound that was like a laugh and it's mandibles were in a form of a smile as it spoke.

"Even as you face death, you fight with all of your will and soul. You Humans truly are impressive despite being weak. I shall indeed give you death, death by the sword."

With that, the Sangheili took out a handle that Kaelyn and Jarrod recognized as an Energy Sword and then…

The Night Elves there looked on as the Elite stabbed the weapon right through the Marine's body armor and through him, they heard Franklin's screams of pain for a moment until his head rolled down and showed that he was dead. And then to their shock, the Elite tossed the dead Human's body aside….only for the Jackals to suddenly charge at Franklin's body….and begin to eat him.

"By Elune….."

The recording changed images, showing that the Spartans were now on the move, but Tyrande spoke out and her words were stern and serious, though she was showing that she was doing her best not to lose her composure.

"How could you and your fellow soldiers leave that man to die like that? Why didn't you try and save him?"

The Spartan could see that the same questions were in the faces of all the Night Elves, even Fandral was confused as to why he had not helped the wounded and helpless Marine.

"In your world High Priestess Tyrande, you can wipe out a patrol and you would have plenty of time to do what you need before they are missed by their allies back in the base. In mine, our technology and that of the Covenant, can shorten that to mere moments, if we attacked, they would have warned their companions and their defenses would be much harder to break into, they would be harder to surprise and in turn take out."

"No one, least of all me, wanted that man to die the way he did, but it was either his life, or that of many others in the city. It's hard and cruel, but that is something one must live with."

The Night Elves were stunned, but any complaint they had died as they saw the truth there, Tyrande herself recalled how some of her sisters gave their lives soothers might live. She understood that and as such, she spoke no more as the images continued to play before her.

Eventually the Spartans were able to meet up with the survivors of the garrisons and soon began to gather what they could in order to fight to allow the survivors to escape from their now doomed home world. The Night Elves watched as the Spartans gathered what they could alongside the surviving soldiers and move out. They even salvaged whatever weapons and ammunition they could find from their dead comrades.

Tyrande was horrified by the carnage before her, to know that in only half a day, nearly all of the people in that city were slaughtered like sheep, and even their best soldiers on the ground could do little to stop the incoming advance, what had once been two different groups that had nearly a hundred thousand soldiers and so much firepower were cut down to less than a hundred each in only half a day. The idea of such slaughter on a scale like this nearly made her vomit, something that she had never done before in her life.

She looked to her left and she saw a for a moment the body of a human child, a little girl, no more than six, her eyes gripped in terror in death, her mouth opened in a scream but her throat was cut as blood flowed through her mouth and throat….her body showed signs of being gnawed upon by beasts….the handiwork of the blood thirsty Jackals. The sight sent waves of revulsion through her as she looked at the child's terror stricken face.

She looked to her right and saw a dead member of the UNSC Army with his left arm blown off below the elbow, his eyes closed and blood streaming out from the gouges of his burned body armor with his right hand clutching his Assault Rifle in death, some distance behind him was a woman who had been gunned down and a massive series of burns on her back showed that she had been shot as she tried to flee, a pool of blood around her while the soldier had died trying to save her.

That however changed when the Spartan and his soldiers finally engaged the Covenant. The Night Elves watched as they watched the Spartans and his comrades fight with their foes in the records as they all looked at the Covenant races as Cortana explained them one by one, from the Unggoy or the Grunts, to the Sangheili or the Elites, the Kig'Yar or the Jackals, and the Mgalekgolo or the Hunters . The battles that erupted between the UNSC were undeniably brutal as several human survivors were slain in the most violent manner possible while the Covenant races were also slain by the soldiers of the UNSC as the Spartans moved like shadows or avatars of warfare as Covenant soldiers fell before the Chief and his comrades. The screams and curses filled the air, human and alien in a symphony of unmatched destruction and bloodshed. It was like reliving the bloodiest battles, yet they were not part of the whole thing, the Night Elves in the Temple found themselves in the record, even if they could not smell the flames, the stench of flesh being burned, or hear the sounds of fighting and dying around them, they felt like they were indeed in a real situation.

All of this reminded Tyrande of the first slaughter at Suramar so long ago….this was the only time she had ever been reminded of that day, and she couldn't help but feel sickened once more.

This battle went on until the Spartans were forced to evacuate all the civilians that were still alive as well as the surviving soldiers from the area as the Covenant Fleet were now unleashing their full might to reduce the world below them into nothing but a glass mess. Cortana explained it all as the Night Elves watched in horror as the once verdant and lush planet that would have easily been an ideal home for their people and the order races of Azeroth was reduced into a hellish wasteland by the Covenant.

After this, Tyrande was speechless and looked at the Spartan with hard eyes.

She had seen the carnage of the war with the Burning Legion nearly ten thousand years ago during the Great Sundering and then when the Legion came again after the Alliance and Horde arrived. She was no stranger to bloodshed and death, but seeing warfare of this level, in this brutality was utterly shocking to her and she couldn't help but try her very best to fathom just how could it be like this.

"Is this how wars were fought on your worlds?"

John replied that what they saw was not the War, but a battle, one among hundreds that would last for over thirty years, resulting in two hundred and ninety nine other worlds being subjected to the same fate as Helios. That was utterly disturbing to the Night Elves….so much slaughter in different worlds and in such a scale, they had seen the devastating power of magic, but to see such wars where magic never existed and it was in this level of brutality, .it was very difficult and disturbing indeed to them. That was then that Fandral spoke.

"How long have you been in this war with this….Covenant?"

John then replied.

"I have been fighting them ever since I was fourteen by human standards."

Jarrod was wide eyed at that and so were everyone else, as Tyrande spoke once more.

"You have been fighting them since you were that young?"

"Yes. By all accounts I am already forty-one years of age but thanks to UNSC medicine and technology, I can live a lot longer than most humans. But the Covenant was not the only enemy we had to fight, there was something worse hidden in the shadows, one could call it…"

"No more….I beg you, by the mercy of Elune to stop these images."

The Spartan could see the distress in the face of the High Priestess and decided to agree but not before he told them of the end of the war where the lies of the Prophets finally were revealed, and how the Sangheili revolted for the betrayal of their race by their former leaders and how they fought side by side to finally end the conflict.

Tyrande decided that all that she had seen was too much for her to handle in one day and that was why she spoke out and decided to end the discussion for now about where the Spartan came from. However, she was not done as she spoke to him once more.

"After all that….all that fighting and bloodshed, how could you not have become maddened by all of this….slaughter?"

John could tell that this was important for her and he replied.

"My fellow Spartans and I were trained to fight and endure, to fight through everything and win. I and my brothers and sisters were once trained to stop rebellion, but when the Covenant came, we were the ones who fought to save every human life we could. We were in a war, a war not for land, riches, honor, faith, freedom, or any of the sort, we were fighting for the most basic right all. The right to live, that was why no matter what happened, there were other soldiers who never gave up, those soldiers refused to lie down and die, because they knew that they were the ones to defend those who could not fight back."

Tyrande was silent; she looked at the Spartan and marveled that someone like him was able to survive the level of fighting she had seen with her two eyes. That added further weight to what she had seen from Jarrod's magical sphere as well as his report. That was when she recalled something that she had heard from the records.

"What exactly are you? I at least understand from what I have seen that this title you have is your rank and you are a member of the Navy of your UNSC, but what does Spartan mean, is it your true name or does it have a different meaning? You were called that by your human allies many times, and even called demon by these Covenant, why is that?"

The Spartan thought about it and replied.

"The term Spartan is in honor of the soldiers of the same name, the term Spartan was given to the residents of the city of state of Sparta in ancient Greece on Earth. The Spartans were an ultra-militaristic nation where all the male population is trained to be soldiers. Every male child born is examined and tested extensively, those who are shown to be sickly or physically deformed are abandoned to die."

The Night Elves were surprised and revolted by that but they held their words and waited for the Master Chief to finish.

"Those who pass are taken into the barracks at the age of seven and are trained to be soldiers under the watch of veteran Spartans soldiers. They are given little food and have to forage and steal to make up for that, learning how to fight and survive and are punished for being caught, not for stealing. Once they were older, they were required to serve in the army of Sparta until they were thirty years of age to become citizens of Sparta itself, the Spartans are all citizen warriors, trained to endure, survive, and obey without question, and fight with all they have to the end. They are required to marry at twenty but cannot be with their families until they reach the age of citizenship. They are trained to fight as a unit and all of them treat one another as fellow equals."

"In the end, they left behind no great works, stories, and stonework, but they left behind a legacy that endured for over four thousand years in the history of mankind. Long ago, the Persian emperor Xerxes began an invasion of the Greek city states, gathering an army that had soldiers from half the known world under his empire's sway. The Greeks marshaled a defense in response with the first being a naval blockade to keep the Persian Navy from attacking while the Spartan King Leonidas gathered three hundred of his Spartan Royal Guard, those with living sons to continue their lines, along with support soldiers and marched to a pass known as Thermopylae."

"There he and his soldiers along with five thousand other Greek soldiers to form an army of seven thousand against Xerxes' forces that numbered a full two hundred and twenty five thousand."

Tyrande listened intently along with the other Night Elves and even the normally arrogant Fandral remained silent.

"For two days, the Spartans and their fellow Greeks fought on, using the terrain, and location to their advantage as well as their equipment and training. They inflicted nearly twenty five thousand losses to the Persians, forcing the Persians to walk over the bodies of their comrades and wade through the blood soaked lands. Eventually they were betrayed when a sheepherder, seeing a chance to become rich at the expense of his fellow Greeks, told the Persians of a pass that allowed them to surround the Greeks. The Greeks knew there and then that they were finished, Leonidas then ordered the Greeks to leave and regroup while he and his Spartans remained to cover the retreat, they were not alone as seven hundred soldiers from the city state of Thebes stayed with them to fight to the end."

"On the last day, the Persians attacked in full force and the Spartans and their allies fought like men possessed for they knew that every minute they spent fighting would be another minute that their allies could regroup, re-supply, and prepare for the counter attack. The battle lasted nearly an entire day as the Spartans and their allies fought with spears, when those failed, they used, swords, until they used their hands and teeth."

Tyrande then spoke the question in her mind.

"And what happened to the Greeks who remained behind?"

The Spartan replied with all seriousness.

"Dead to the last man, Leonidas himself was brought before Xerxes who in a rage for the loss of his forces and two of his brothers had the dead Spartan king's head cut off and placed on a pike while his body was mutilated. But the Spartans and their allies did what they had set out to do. What was by all rights a defeat turned into a powerful victory as they had not only cost the Persian Army much in terms of time, supplies and manpower, but they had broken the fighting spirit of the Persians as they were terrified of fighting the full might of the Spartan Army, for if three hundred Spartans could do this much to them, what would happen if they faced a full army? I and those like me are named in honor of those soldiers."

"As for the title Demon, it's fitting since I and my fellow Spartans have inflicted numerous casualties upon them many times and even destroyed a sacred place to their faith as well."

Tyrande took it all in and she thought deeply on the things she had learned and then asked her question.

"Now that you have told us this information I must know something from you that is important to me. I must know what your plans are while you are here in the lands of my people, if you are to be here, I need to know your full intentions so I can make a proper decision regarding your stay in our lands."

…

End of Flashback…

Tyrande looked out the window to see the rest of the city of Darnassus and was deep in thought after all she had seen from the records of this Spartan. It was still hard for her to grasp it all but she could sense that all that she had seen was not some illusion, why she felt that was beyond her for now, but there was no doubt that this man before her was not of this world. And as such was a very powerful being in his own right and was to be treated with respect.

She also felt a moment of kinship with the man before her, he too was a warrior like her and had fought for his people just as she had for hers and gave everything to defend them just as she did. That was why in the end of the discussion between them, she listened to his words carefully as he stated that he had no intention of fighting for anyone on this world until he found out more of this world and it's people. He naturally would defend himself if attacked but he was not here to start a war with anyone and as such, he was going to focus more on securing his location and do what he could in order to be rescued if possible by those of the UNSC, if not, he would find another way back home. Only when he learned all that he needed of this world that he had landed in would he finally make a decision on his stance towards the world and it's people.

Fandral naturally objected in having the Spartan in their lands of course, despite seeing the images from the Spartan's memories, he still did not trust the Spartan and then left vowing that he would watch the Spartan carefully despite Tyrande's stern warning to leave the Master Chief alone.

She wished that her beloved Malfurion was here with her to guide her and give her the stability and support she longed for as well as help her in keeping her people together. Not to mention for him to take back his rightful place as Arch Druid of their people, as Fandral's actions have troubled her long before the Spartan ever came to their world. Fandral was an excellent Druid, of that there was no doubt, having been Malfurion's lieutenant for a long time.

However, his temperament was not one would expect from the right hand of Malfurion Stormrage, he was hot tempered, prone to rash decisions, and also very much a traditional Night Elf who dislikes the alliances with those he deems as inferior races. Fandral believed that their race were the only true Druids in Azeroth as well as the superior race as they had defeated the Legion without any aid in the past and he believed that with time, they could do so again, despite the evidence on the contrary.

Added to that was his belief that the only way for the Night Elves to grow in strength and power was through expansionist actions as well as military force. That coupled with his aggressive stance made him clash with her in more than one instance. It still made her wonder why was it that Malfurion had such a person as his right hand as they also clashed on many matters in more than one moment in the time she had known the two.

Fandral of course had suffered the loss of his son Valstann in the War of the Shifting Sands many years before, so some of his anger towards other races was understandable. However, today his actions continued to grow more and more radical and Tyrande worried that sooner or later, there would a civil crisis among her people if this kept on occurring. Only those high up in both their respective orders knew how violent their clashing of words was getting and it was only a matter of time before things could radically change.

Unknown to her, the Master Chief had some idea as to what was going on when Fandral and Tyrande spoke to one another. While he had no experience with politics and politicians, he knew a power struggle when he saw and heard one, the two had been arguing in Darnassian, unaware that Cortana's translation program had told the Spartan everything.

As soon as Cortana had finished cataloguing the information several hours later, she spoke to the Spartan and told him that now that they were done, they might as well look at the city and see the sights before they would head back to the Dawn and secure it even more for the day. The Spartan naturally argued with her on that regard as they had a private conversation.

"Cortana, you realize that I dislike being out in public."

"True, but we can gather even more information from out there as well as the temple. This being the Night Elves' capital would mean that there's plenty of people who come here to trade, plus getting more information will be helpful. Besides, you can try to be more sociable with our hosts, after what they've seen, I think showing them that your not a demon is a good idea."

John could tell that Cortana was dead serious about this and sighed once more as he spoke back to her.

"All right, but I'm only doing this because you asked for it. I might not like it at all, but if it'll make you happy then fine."

Cortana laughed gently and replied.

"You can be a nice guy when you want to be."

John then asked permission to tour the city before he returned to his ship and Tyrande nodded at that as she gave him permission to see the rest of the city of Darnassus while under escort of course and before she could react, Kaelyn was then told by the High Priestess to act as the Spartan's guide. Kaelyn sighed and nodded as she began to guide the Spartan through the city of her people, showing him the various locations of the city and along with him were Sandra and Jarrod. All the while, John had been studying the city itself and saw a good deal of things there in the city and began to record it in. He studied the exact layout of the city while listening to Kaelyn as she told him about the various sections of the city. Naturally the residents were more than willing to point at the Spartan and talk in their native tongue, which by now the Spartan understood well enough. Some of the people were wondering what he was, where did he come from, all those sorts of things and some would even wonder if he was a demon. Some of that amused Cortana but he ignored it.

They stopped at the Warrior's Terrace as the Spartan watched the warriors there spar, and while he still had his helmet on, Kaelyn looked at him still trying her best to picture him without the helmet once more. It was also hard to imagine that he was already in his forties when he looked to be a young man in the prime of life. The Night Elf Sentinel realized what she was doing and quickly shook her head and turned to see that Sandra saw her actions and her friend was grinning at her knowingly.

Both were unaware that Cortana had seen that, she found it interesting as well as amusing and decided to tell the Master Chief about it at a later date. As soon as they were done, he returned to the Temple and bid Tyrande farewell but that was when the High Priestess spoke about something of great importance.

"Before you return to your ship Spartan, I would like it if you have a guide or guides to help you get further acquainted to the lands of my people, this way you will know where you are as well as know what are the other denizens here in Kalimdor, whether benevolent or not. Since you are familiar with only Kaelyn Nightwalker and Jarrod Moonleaf, I wish to ask if you do not mind them being by your side to help you while you are here in our lands?"

The Spartan looked at the two Night Elves and weighed the options, both of them had exceptional knowledge and they were more familiar to him than anyone else for the matter, it was better to work with people who know of already so you can watch them carefully as well as gain information from at the same time. He then gave his answer to that.

"I don't mind, but I have to point out that I will be traveling this land to learn more once I have secured my place of operations, if that happens, I want to know if they are all right with traveling with me to areas beyond Kalimdor. I may also travel to the lands of the Horde as well as meet the other races on this world of yours so I need to be sure that they are all right with that? Or will they decide to stay here when I leave and return to their duties as Sentinels until I return?"

Tyrande looked at both Night Elves and the silence was there, this was something that had to be considered well, Kaelyn and Jarrod had never left Kalimdor's shores before, and this was not new, many Night Elves preferred to stay in the lands they knew as home and while many have gone beyond the shores, both of them were Sentinels and were duty bound to stay in Kalimdor to defend the land.

Jarrod however spoke first.

"I will be willing to go if that is all right with you High Priestess, though I know little of the lands beyond Kalimdor, I am willing to go to those lands if I have your approval."

Tyrande nodded and the Druid smiled, in truth, hearing about the lands beyond Kalimdor in the past had stirred curiosity in the Druid and he was eager to see these lands, after all, he had heard rumors that both Malfurion and Tyrande had gone to the lands beyond and he wished to see what they have seen as well. Tyrande then turned to Kaelyn and asked her if she was willing to leave the lands of Kalimdor.

"What of you Kaelyn?"

"I…I don't know, I have never considered traveling beyond Kalimdor."

That was when Sandra spoke out.

"High Priestess, may I speak?"

Tyrande nodded and Sandra replied.

"I have already traveled beyond the lands of Kalimdor and I have been to the lands inhabited by the humans and those of the other members of the Alliance, and those who are not part of the Horde and even the lands inhabited by the Horde. If it will be with your approval I will join this group alongside Kaelyn since I know the lands beyond Kalimdor well and I will be able to help both my kindred adjust to living outside of our homeland."

Tyrande thought it over and knew that Sandra was telling the truth and she also knew that Kaelyn and Sandra were friends when they were in the Sentinels. It would be better that both Kaelyn and Jarrod had one of their own who had already gone beyond their lands with them to help them adjust as well if the Spartan left the lands. With that in mind she spoke to Kaelyn once more.

"I agree with that suggestion from Sister Sandra, what of you Kaelyn?"

The Night Elf Sentinel though it over and decided that maybe she could do that, it would be a first to her, but if her best friend could do it, then what was stopping her from doing the same thing, besides she still was honor bound to keep watch on the Spartan, and if doing so meant traveling with him beyond Kalimdor, then so be.

Though she wondered why a tiny part of her mind called her a liar.

"I agree to that High Priestess, if it will help our people then I will go with the Spartan wherever he may go."

Tyrande smiled at that and as soon as everything had been done, the Spartan recovered his weapons with her approval and as soon as he was done, the moved out to return to the village of Rut'theran and get back to his Pelican, when he and the others got there to the Pelican, the three had to ask a number of curious Night Elf children and some young teens to leave the Pelican along and allow the Spartan to activate the code to have the Pelican remove the lockdown that it was in.

As soon that was done, the Pelican was soon powering up it's systems and moving out as the Spartan was focusing on the need to get back to the Dawn and make the needed changes to make sure that the ship was going to be much easier to defend. It was going to be a long amount of work that was going to be done in order to secure the ship as well as set up the much needed defenses. He had enough supplies as well as the support of the Robotic Rovers, and he could use the materials that were available to him around as well though he made sure to check the inventory of the Dawn to see if the supplies were indeed enough.

…

As the Pelican came closer to the Dawn's location Sandra was currently talking to Jarrod and Kaelyn to learn just what they knew of the Spartan and getting a feel for the Pelican, compared to the zeppelins she had ridden before as well as the Hippogryphs and the Gryphons. The Pelican didn't allow for the feel of the wind but it seemed to have some sort of device that kept the air cool and comfortable. Not to mention the flight seemed very fast compared to the zeppelins.

The atmosphere was broken when Cortana suddenly appeared and she had a very serious expression on her face as she spoke directly to the Spartan.

"John, we have a problem, the scanner networks we established around the Dawn have picked up a large number of figures moving towards the Dawn, along with three large ones, about the size of Ogres."

Instantly the Spartan got his full focus on the situation before him just as the conversation between the Night Elves was cut short as they also went over to see what was happening before them right now. Cortana was soon able to get a visual and soon the A.I revealed the video feed from some of the sensors they had left behind to act as a security measure.

The figures were beings that were very short some were two feet and seven inches, while others were four feet and three inches. They had long and sharp noses, chins, and ears as well. Some of the creatures had deep green skin while others had yellow green skin, their arms were rather long as well as their fingers. Some had no hair while others had hair in long ponytails, others had punk style hairdos and even Mohawks from the looks of it.

They were very odd looking creatures in the eyes of the A.I and the Spartan though they were able to see that these creatures were well armed, at least by this world's standards as some of them wore high quality leather armor with metal pieces and carried a number of crossbows as well as a number of odd looking devices that seemed to be similar to fire-arms which was interesting for the Master Chief and Cortana, along with maces, short swords and from what they could see, grenade like weapons that might have explosives of some sort. Cortana naturally spoke out her thoughts on these uninvited guests.

"What are those things?"

Kaelyn was not happy with what she was seeing as she recognized the creatures as she looked at the incoming images from the scanner systems that the Spartan had placed before.

"Those are Goblins."

John turned to face the Night Elf Sentinel and spoke.

"You know them?"

Kaelyn nodded and replied.

"Yes, the Goblins are former members of the Horde in the old days from what I have heard, but now they serve both sides, they dabble in trade, commerce, and business. However, they do not hesitate to dabble in less than honest actions such as deforestation, slavery, strip mining, poaching, and more. We do not trust them nor have love for their race because they care only for making profit and power at the expense of the environment and of the suffering of others."

Sandra then replied as she looked at the Goblins more closely marveling at the images before her which has not being done with the aid of magic.

"And it's worse since those Goblins are part of the Venture Trading Company. This bunch are very much a serious threat in the Barrens since they've been strip mining and deforesting Stonetalon Peak, the Tauren have tried to reason with them but they don't seem to care much and continue on with their work. That has become a source of conflict for them and the Tauren from what I understand of it when I visited the Tauren once on a hunting trip. They are notorious and have a lot of ties with other groups like them, I heard that they were trading a type of poison to the Defias Brotherhood in the land of Azeroth. They also have other branches of their group in other parts of the two continents as well."

Cortana spoke to the Hunter curiously.

"How do you know so much about them? "

"I have my encounters with them, they are hostile to just anyone they meet, but most especially to us Night Elves and the Tauren. However I can't figure out why they would be willing to come to our lands of all places."

"I can wager a guess, they might be after the Dawn."

The Spartan growled at what Cortana said and he vowed that they were going to regret it. He checked his weapons and prepared for battle.

…

The Goblins chatted among themselves eagerly as they were moving through the forest, unaware that their movements were being tracked by the Spartan and his A.I companion. They had come this close to the night Elves lands with a number of their forces to try and see if the giant falling star that their spies reported days before was still there. They had wondered if there was any good ore that could prove useful for them to sell or use for their own ends.

With them were a number of slaves that they had taken to use as support labor as well as being the pack mules, some were getting old, but what can they do at this time with what they have? They were going to see if the ore from that star will be worth some more extra coins in the market. There were sudden cries from the slaves as one of the nearby Orc guards whipped them while shouting in Common.

"Move faster you slugs!"

The Goblins and their group finally reached the end of the forest line after swearing that the trees here would be worth cutting down for lumber, but what they saw next was more than enough to drive the thought of the rich lumber of Northern Kalimdor in the market out of their minds. They spotted the Dawn and despite the distance before them they were able to get a good glimpse of the UNSC Frigate. The Goblins were quick to realize that they had just stumbled on something that could be a very rich haul, while they had no idea what was before them the Goblins were more than willing to go out and see for themselves.

However, just as they were approaching the Dawn, a rain of missiles suddenly came right at them, the Goblins in the front of the advancing scores of their kindred only had enough time to cry out as they were quickly destroyed in a heart beat in a fiery explosion that was more than enough to halt the Goblins dead in their tracks.

The creatures began to chatter wildly at this sudden and unexpected attack on their comrades and looked to see something flying towards them at high speed, they quickly raised their weapons and quickly fired at the incoming object, only to find that their weapons were not able to reach it.

…

The A.I smirked and replied.

"They really should know that their weapons aren't going to be of much use if we're at this height, their guns don't even have the range, though I am curious as to how they have guns in the first place."

John however was all business as he looked at the data coming in to the Pelican's monitor

"Save that for later inquiry for later Cortana, just how many are still left?"

"Apart from the dozen we just reduced to nothing, I could at least a full three dozen more, but I am picking up other signatures that are clustered together, they happen to be way back in the rear of this attack force though, the fifth group is fairly large but they seem to be separate from the main force, along with three other signatures, very large ones at that."

"Ogres?"

Cortana shook her head.

"Not if they happen to me made out of metal for some reason. I'm also picking up some abnormal temperature settings from the three but I can't get a good visual on them just yet."

"Right, Cortana guide the Pelican and be my eyes in the sky, I'm going down."

Kaelyn and the others watched as the doors of the Pelican opened up and she spoke to him.

"Wait we are still in the air, are you planning to jump out?"

The Spartan only had one answer to that.

"Exactly."

…

The Goblins who were still shooting at the Pelican Drop-ship got the shock of their lives when something that resembled a human figure came out from being the flying object and seemed to be heading right before them as the Pelican flew overhead. The Pelican was a good ten stories up in the air but that was hardly a troubling distance for the Spartan II as he hit the ground with enough force to actually send shockwaves into the ground as well as a large amount of dirt and more into the air.

The Goblins were surprised at this sudden change as they tried to see what had come out from that flying machine, the debris fell down and they got to see the Spartan II himself as John got from his kneeling position and smoothly took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle from his back and was now carrying it both hands. The Goblins had enough time to raise their weapons to fire at the Spartan II but they were not going to get far as the Spartan was quickly firing away, killing them and sending blood, flesh, and guts flying all over the place as their leather armor proved to be useless before the 7.62x51mm FMJ AP rounds that the MA5C unleashed on them. The Goblins were quickly slaughtered as they had no chance to fire.

The next group got lucky and unleashed bullets and bolts as well as their chemical weapons, however those weapons proved to be nigh useless as the Spartan charged right at them at high speed, the only things the unfortunate Goblins were able to see was their shots missing the Spartan as he moved too fast for their projectiles to hit him, even the bullets from their guns didn't have the speed to hit the Spartan. They only saw a blur of movement and then they were all torn to shreds by the weapons of the Spartan. The Spartan quickly ran up and leaped over the Goblins that were still alive and in mid flip fired his remaining rounds in his Assault Rifle with deadly accuracy and before he lands, he ejected the empty magazine and quickly loaded another one into the weapon,

As soon as he landed he quickly sprinted and unleashed another hail of bullets, choosing to use bursts for accuracy and that worked effectively as several more of the Goblins were cut down easily enough and he was not hit as of yet as the Goblins were still reeling from his arrival and killing of their comrades with such speed. They had no idea what this thing was, it was human but no human wore armor like this before and carry such weapons, they knew it was a gun, but it was not like any gun that they knew of at all. The Spartan quickly killed the next group and turned as a volley of grenade like weapons finally smashed into him. In a moment his MJOLNIR Mark VI's shields flickered gold as rock, dirt and shrapnel hit him, his temperature sensors spiked and dropped, while his shield gauge only had a small portion lost, a really tiny portion, showing that while the explosives were powerful, they were not enough to be harmful to him to say the very least.

The laughter of the Goblins at their success of finally hitting the Spartan II died out as the flames and smoke faded to reveal the giant being totally unharmed with flickering waves of golden energy all over his form. The Goblin grenadiers recovered enough of their wits to reach in and fire, but the Spartan beat them to it and fired several rounds….but those rounds were not for them but for their weapons.

The Goblins never expected that as the rounds were able to cut through the metal casing of their weapons and detonate the explosives, resulting in the grenadiers being consumed by the explosions of their very own weapons. This was the opening the Chief needed as he closed in and switched to his M7 SMGs, the two weapons unleashed a hail of bullets that was more than enough to reduce the Goblins before him into bloody confetti as he moved in to slaughter them piecemeal.

However the next group decided to go all out and some of them took out packs of explosives and charged right at the Spartan, John spotted them and recognized their attacks as well as what they had on them.

(Suicide Bombers.)

He was not unfamiliar with this tactic and quickly began to target the Goblins with head and body shots, the built in recoil dampeners in his MJOLNIR kicking in to stabilize him to allow him to fire better while his HUDs quickly cycled through the threats, running a lot of calculations to allow him the best chance to hit his targets dead center.

The Goblins with the bombs died well enough but their deaths were not enough to slow down the other Goblins as they attacked with their close combat weapons, hoping to overwhelm the being with their numbers and kill it despite the unknown armor. Many of them were not going to get the chance as they were cut down, though the last three, each armed with maces and short swords in both hands attacked. However, the weapons bounced off the shields and the Spartan quickly terminated them with bursts of Caseless rounds, he turned and spotted the Orc overseer charging at him, he saw no identifying clan markings on the Orc, meaning this one was a mercenary or hired hand for these Goblins.

That was when Cortana spoke to him.

"Chief, I've picked up several other signatures nearby a large group of living beings….and those three large ones that appear to be metal, they were at the back before, but now they are on the move towards your position."

John nodded as he quickly fought with the Orc as the creature tried to use a wicked looking scimitar to try and gut the Spartan with a flurry of deadly strikes as he evaded the attacks, the Orc's attacks managed to graze the shields but didn't cut it as the shield gauge didn't drop at all. The Spartan quickly placed the M7 SMGs on his thighs and quickly grabbed the scimitar and with cobra quick reflexes, ripped the weapon out of the hand of the Orc and jammed it right into the Orc's chest with such force that the blade bypassed the Orc's heavy chainmail with frightening ease and the scimitar was buried all the way to the pommel and out the back, the Spartan moved away as the Orc growled faintly as he dropped dead.

That was then Cortana spoke.

"John, those three big contacts are coming right at you!"

The Spartan turned and sure enough, the three machines came out and were not facing the Spartan.

…

The pilots of the Goblin Shredders had tried to keep themselves out of sight as they saw that it was just one being and they thought that their fellow Goblins could handle it, that all changed and now they were going to attack and kill this intruder, once they killed it, they were going to take the remains back to the Company and see if the Mogul who led their company would reward them for such a find.

Unfortunately they were unaware that the Pelican that had now landed had spotted them already and that allowed Cortana to analyze their Shredders.

The Goblin Shredder was a powerful tool of industry for the Goblin race and was something that had been a bane to the Night Elves and the Tauren as they see it's ability to deforest and despoil at an alarming rate as the ultimate sin to nature. The Shredder was also a deadly weapon of war due to the armor plating and construction which was doubled by the massive steam saw it carried. All in all, this steam driven monstrosity was the most effect tool the Goblins of Venture Company as well as the rest of the Goblin Race.

Unfortunately the pilots of the three Shredders, they were about to face a being who was MORE than able to hold his own. And compared to what the Master Chief had on, their Shredders were nothing more than steam driven junk piles which were soon destined for a trip to the great junk heap in the sky as it were..

Cortana quickly scanned the three machines and spoke once she downloaded their exact design schematics.

"Those things seem to be driven by steam of all things, must be one heck of a boiler system they have there, and it has basic clockwork mechanisms to move it, fairly large ones considering the height and size of it. I don't see any serious weapons on it that can attack at range so I'm wagering a guess that the giant saw blade is their only solid weapon, apart from the arm. I've managed to determine the metal construction to be steel mixed with bronze, tin, and iron, well built from the looks of it. But compared to the MJOLNIR Series of Powered Assault Armor, they are serious outmatched."

That was true; during the earlier stage of the MJOLNIR's development the progress had not been easy. The UNSC Navy developed the idea of a powered exoskeleton system that would not only help maneuver and move larger loads and materials, but also serve to augment the overall abilities of the said soldiers into combat while being armed with the best weapons, armor and sensors that could be used into the system. The first Prototype, known as the Mark I was developed in 2512 and took a decade to develop, however it was bulky, unwieldy, took time to master, and worst of all, it relied on a cable connection to a fusion reactor to provide it power.

Despite the advantages it gave, such as being able to lift two tons, run at a speed of 32 KPH, armed with an advanced tactical computer, carrying all the best sensors at the time and carry heavy weapons, only forty units of the Mark I were built before they were canceled and never saw combat in the field, some were naturally relegated to lifting heavy loads and moving materials in docking bays, while others were dumped into the titanium mines on Reach.

They were used by their trainers as well under Mendez's order since several of the trainers were killed in hand to hand combat exercises by his fellow Spartans when they had arrived after they all had fully recovered from their augmentations.

The Mark II was a slimmer profile and was less bulky, it also had a special coating that gave it considerable defense against heat, shrapnel and explosive energy, and had a special self sealing system for operations in space. Despite these changes and advantages, the Mark II was still limited in terms of field applications as it still relied on a connection to a fusion reactor and was scrapped.

The Mark III was the last attempt and unlike the first two prototypes, it relied on transmitted power from a power station as it had a wireless power transmitter and receiver. While this had removed the need for it to be strapped to a power source, the Mark III was still rejected as it still had a limited operations range due to the transmitter system as it needed to be in range of the reactor to be provided power, and the next was if the generator was taken out, the Mark II would be powerful regardless of whether it was in range or not.

The idea of Powered Assault Armor was placed aside for a very long time until Dr. Halsey took over the project and used new technologies that soon gave way the Mark VI that he wore. Even so, despite the fact that the Mark I, II, and III s were no longer in use, he had heard rumors of the UNSC Marines developing their own Power Armor system independent of the MJOLNIR series.

Comparing these things to even the Mark I was laughable at best as despite the short comings of the Mark I, it was a powerful leap in technology and these things were like bastardized versions of the Mark I all the way to the Mark III. Not only that, they were too large and bulky as well as being limited only to close combat roles. It was time to see just what these things were capable of apart from cutting down trees.

…

The Spartan quickly charged at the three Shredders, firing his MA5C right at a selected target on the first Shredder, while Kaelyn, Jarrod, and Sandra looked on in shock, wondering if the human, if he was one, had lost his mind. The Goblins who were piloting the Shredders thought the same thing, one of them quickly attacked the Spartan as the Spartan fired his MA5C IWCS Assault Rifle at the Shredder, the Goblin was concentrating on the Spartan that he was unaware that those shots were not being fired at random.

The Spartan had been aiming for the joints and the shots had been used to weaken the joint with concentrated fire, and since the bullets fired from the MA5C were designed to pierce armor, they were moderately effective as several holes now appeared on the joint of the arm with the steam saw. Just as the Shredder pilot made a swing at the Spartan with the steam-saw, the Master Chief quickly ducked under the attack, placed aside his Assault Rifle with blinding speed, and grabbed the arm. He then pulled and the Spartan's augmented strength which had grown for the past thirty years and further boosted by the MJOLNIR Mark VI worked as the arm was ripped off while the blade was still spinning.

The Spartan then swung the arm he had just torn off of the Shredder with the blade spinning right into the Goblin who could only cry out in absolute fear as the blade tore him apart, this left the Shredder without a pilot as the Spartan then moved away from it as it slumped and fell forward with a massive groan.

The second Shredder was quickly on the offensive as the Goblin pilot manipulated the controls to try and kill the Spartan with both hand and steam saw. But the Spartan quickly avoided both attacks and rolled under the Shredder and as soon as he was behind the machine, he quickly unleashed a pair of hard and fast kicks right at the back joints on the legs of the Shredder. The strength of Spartans was never to be under estimated as time and experience only made them stronger and deadlier.

This was proven true as the legs of the second Shredder gave way to the sheer force of the kicks on the Spartan, the Shredder fell down unable to stand due to the critical damage to it's legs. The Goblin tried to escape from it's now ruined machine but the Spartan reached for a sharp shard of metal and with amazing precision threw it and it buried itself deep in the throat of the Goblin pilot just as he had finished crawling out and away from his machine and turned to look at the Spartan to shoot him with his gun. The Goblin fell dead as the third and last surviving Goblin guided the Shredder cut down a tree and grab it with the other hand to use as a club.

The Goblin attacked with the weapon as the Spartan quickly leaped over the weapon and rushed on the tree right at the Goblin who then lashed out with the steam saw after dropping the tree, the attack however missed as the Spartan leaped forward and slammed his feet right into the chest of the Shredder and the impact was enough to actually put the Shredder down flat on it's back, the Goblin cried out in utter shock as it felt like his Shredder had been hit by a massive cannon ball, it looked up and gave out a cry as the Spartan quickly smashed his fist into the Goblin's face….reducing it into nothing but a bloody mess.

In a few minutes, the battle was over as the Spartan looked over the battle field to see the carnage before him.

…

As soon as the dust settles, the three Night Elves were utterly stunned by that they had just seen, the Spartan had fought with a Goblin force nearly three dozen strong and a trio of Shredders and slaughtered them without even a single scratch to show for it. Kaelyn and Jarrod had already seen the Spartan fight with an Ogre and defeat it with seemingly no effort, but to see him take down three Goblin Shredders by himself was really something else as they had never seen anyone who was alone take on even one and live to tell about it.

As for Sandra, she was utterly impressed and decided to stick around a bit more to see this human, if he was one, in action. She herself had no love for the Venture Company of Goblins and had fighting encounters with them more than once in her travels, and seeing them being punished by the Spartan was very nice.

The Master Chief then looked around and spotted what appeared be a number of beings that were being held in chains, no doubt that they were slaves from the looks of it and no doubt were the other contacts that Cortana had detected along with the ones the Orc might have been watching over before it attacked him. Cortana confirmed it as well as she called to him via COM system, he wasted no time scanning for any living wounded Goblins and putting them out of their misery.

He reached the slaves and was surprised to find a rather unique variety of species being held prisoner. Some were humans, some young teens of both genders as well as a trio of old men, along with a small number of beings that resembled the Night Elves but seemed to have pale skin, almost like a human skin tone, and the last were a number of beings that seemed to be elvish but human like at the same time.

Naturally the looks directed to him by the slaves was abject fear and shock, no doubt seeing him slaughter their captors in such a fashion would have made quite the impression on the people and seeing this being of such brutal destruction walking to them, was shocking as they had no idea what he was going to do to them, was he going to kill them all just as he killed the Goblins? Or would he do much worse to them.

The Spartan had no idea what to make of this as he came closer to the apparent slaves and then took up one of the chains that held the slaves and tore the metal chains easily, much to the amazement of the slaves, and their awe increased even more so as the Spartan suddenly spoke to them in Common.

"Don't be alarmed, I'm not here to hurt you, give me a minute to free all of you."

The slaves nodded as the Spartan quickly began to remove the chains and allowed them to stand up, as the slaves got up from the ground where they had been earlier since the whole battle, he scanned them. He could see slash wounds from knives, lash marks that were similar to wounds inflicted by whips, there were also bruises no doubt from clubs or fists. The sight of this kind of abuse angered the Spartan and he decided that these people were in no condition to be traveling about in Kalimdor, there were still predators about and also there was no telling what other threats were out there.

One of the humans then spoke in a tired and feeble voice.

"Who…Who are you? What are you?"

"You can call me 'Chief' sir, as to what I am, I am a human like you, but different."

The others were stunned by this, especially the elves and those who were showing both human and elf traits as the old man spoke once more.

"Human, you are human? That….is…wait, you said you were different as well….what did you mean by that?"

"I am a Spartan."

The slaves tried to ask for more answers, but they were not going to get any more answers from the Master Chief as he decided that until they had fully recovered from their ordeal under those creatures described by his Night Elf companions as Goblins, they were under his protection, he turned to the three and gently called to them in a firm tone of command.

"Kaelyn, Jarrod, Sandra, I need your help."

The Night Elves moved to the group and though they were not happy with the High Elves, even they were not going to let their own grievances with the High Elves stop them from helping them, and the High Elves were still too tired and weakened to care all that much as they were still looking at their savior with some confusion and awe.

…

Later...

The Master Chief was tired as he sat down on a chair in one of the rooms of the Dawn, it had been hard and it was already reaching night time. He and the three Night Elves had been busy watching over the new arrivals as they were now currently resting in one of the crew's quarters. It had taken some prodding to get the slaves to go into the Dawn and some more prodding to keep them from trying to touch anything that would be dangerous to them, Cortana naturally locked down all the critical sections of the ship to keep the people from entering restricted areas.

He had made sure that the men and women were in separate rooms when they were going to go to sleep as to make sure than no hjinks happened on his watch. They had been given a chance to get cleaned and showed in one of the sections used by the crews for bathing with the men and women naturally taking two different areas for privacy. They also had been provided clean towels which the Spartan had brought to them, the people were naturally happy and bathed to their heart's content which was told to the Spartan by Cortana who told John that she had scanned them and suggested that they get proper medical treatment after they had a good meal. As soon as they were done bathing and drying themselves up, they were given clothes, simple tank top shirts which were colored grey and white as well as comfortable pants and boots, all military issued clothing.

While those clothes were ordinary and plain by UNSC standards, the slaves were utterly thankful as these were improvements for their filthy rags and torn clothing, all of which they were MORE than happy to throw away. They were soon brought to the Mess Halls and after a bit, they saw the tables and chairs and got the idea of the place that they were now in. The group was then allowed to reach the food dispenser and when they began to get their food on trays as John and Cortana had managed to get the place operational earlier.

The former slaves were more than willing to dive in the food that was provided to them by the Spartan, and that troubled the Spartan somewhat as he was worried that his ship's supplies of MREs might run out before long, but Sandra was able to help out by leaving the Dawn and coming back a few hours later after hunting down a pair of deer and brought them back with Kaelyn helping her friend.

As soon as the deer were brought in, the Spartan had them dressed and cooked in the Dawn's large area for the other crew members of the Frigate with Cortana helping there with the process, speeding up the cooking of the meat while not compromising the taste and freshness of the meat. After both animals were cooked to perfection, the food was brought there to the people with it in slices. The smell of well cooked venison had been a welcome thing for the former slaves as they ate their food with gusto.

After the large meal, those with injuries were guided by John to the medical bay and while some were frightened by the machines, unaware of their nature, the Spartan was able to treat their wounds well enough and soon had them resting. Though he made sure to get DNA samples for Cortana to study, he made sure to get DNA from the Elves and the ones who had the elven and human features as well for study.

This was due to the fact that he wanted to have more information about the species there on this world and having DNA to work with would really help, Cortana also decided to taker her time to study the DNA samples to make sure that she had all of her bases covered so to speak.

As for the Spartan he now had an MRE and decided to eat the meal while thinking about the events of the day. He knew that the ruined bodies of the Goblins would be useful in gathering a DNA sample as well though he decided that he would have to do it later as the bodies were still going to take a while to decompose. He needed to make sure that he knew just what these Goblins were and determine if there were key weaknesses he can exploit apart from the regular kinds of weaknesses.

He then turned to see none other than Kaelyn and Sandra, Jarrod had left earlier to report to Tyrande and the two were the only ones here. As they sat down and seemed to be in conversation, he decided to focus on other matters. The first thing he needed to do was to gather samples of the weapons used by the Goblins, and also get the Shredders. The fact that the Goblins were using such things in a world where technology is supposed to be in it's infancy was very interesting, Cortana naturally wanted to know more about these devices and see if there was anything that they were able to use.

As night continued to press on, the Master Chief decided to get some time in keeping an eye on the ship while the freed slaves rested, afterwards, he would ask if Kaelyn and her friend would be able to fill in when he also would need some sleep. He might be a Spartan II Commando and a thirty year veteran of wars, but even he needed sleep like the next man.

…

Tyrande watched the images with a look of appreciation as she had no love for the Goblins' profiteering ways and utter disregard to nature and the balance of life and she was happy that they had been dealt with. She also had to admit that seeing the Spartan free the slaves without caring for their race was a warming sight to her as Jarrod showed the images through the large orb of druidic magic that he had conjured up to show the events that had just happened when the Spartan had finally left Darnassus. She had not expected him to be fighting so early in the day but that was to be expected from someone like him.

As the images faded away she smiled a bit more and decided to send a message to the Spartan and took out a scroll and began to write down the message and as soon as the message was completed, she turned to Jarrod and spoke to him.

"Jarrod, there is something that I need from you."

"Name it High Priestess."

"I need you to send this message to Chief and inform him that the best course of action for him with the matter of the slaves is to go to Theramore Isle and meet with Lady Jaina Proudmoore, tell him that she will be more than able to help with the matter and if he desires more answers to his questions, then Lady Jaina can provide them to the best of her abilities."

Jarrod nodded at that and answered.

"I shall do my best to convey your message High Priestess."

"I thank you, I will also send word to Jaina to expect the Spartan and his guests, I would also like it if you inform Kaelyn and Sandra to join up the Spartan to lend their aid if he requires it while he is in our lands."

The Druid nodded as he decided to head back the Dawn to convey the message of the High Priestess to the Spartan. As soon as the Druid left, Tyrande turned to look at the statue of the first High Priestess of her people's faith and she thought of the Night Elf women who had taken the position that she had now.

(What would you have done Sisters? What would you have done in my place, and learning what you have learned from this man?)

Tyrande stood up and looked at the moon and thought even more about what she had learned about the Spartan.

(To think that there are Humans beyond this planet, beyond any world we know of who could do such things…travel beyond their world, create such massive cities yet be able to live with the land and nature well, populate entire worlds, develop such things, command such forces as they do, wield such weapons, they owned an empire that spanned nearly a thousand worlds! If the Alliance heard of this and saw the technology the Spartan commanded, they would hound the Spartan for the rest of his life; they would do anything to get their hands on it.)

Tyrande thought about the implications if the Alliance got their hands on such technology, it was very difficult to imagine, this was why she decided that the Spartan would be placed under her people's protection, and show that he was to be left alone. She had to admire the Spartan's wish to be left in peace and be allowed to be given the chance to leave this world on his own terms. She had thought that he would give his technology to his fellow humans when given the chance in order to give them a chance to reach the level of technology that his people had.

However, she recalled his reply to that when she brought it up.

…

Flashback…

"I will not let that happen, this technology is too dangerous for anyone else to have."

"Really, I thought that as a fellow human, you would be willing to give a lending hand to your fellow humans."

"I am human High Priestess Tyrande, but just because I am human does not mean that I will just give away what I know willingly. This world is not ready for such technology and giving it will only bring imbalance to the rest of the world and without any knowledge on how to understand basics, the results would never turn out well for everyone. The history of Humanity where I come from has accounts of technology being introduced to cultures unprepared for it and I am not going to be responsible for an event that will be result in a disaster. This technology will remain with me for as long as needed."

…

End of Flashback…

Tyrande smiled a bit more at that as she had been able to sense that he was not lying to say the very least and she couldn't help but think about all that had happened. She moved to the nearby window and looked at the moon and then she thought of Malfurion and she smiled at the memory of her beloved and wondered how he would have reacted towards the Spartan if they were to meet. The High Priestess then decided that she needed to rest, she knew that in a few days time, the annual meeting with the representatives of the Alliance were going to come and have a discussion on

…

To be continued…

….

Author's Notes:

That wraps up another chapter, and John had just defended the Dawn from the arrival of a band of encroaching Goblins from the Venture Company who get a little too interested in plundering resources in the lands beyond their base of operations in Central Kalimdor. Not to mention freed a number of slaves from the Goblins of the Venture Company and is beginning to make himself known.

However, since this story is set in a timeline where the current events that lead to the state of open hostility between the Alliance and the Horde have not yet happened, the Goblins have not allied yet with the Horde so there's no way that the Horde will know of the Chief just yet. And the Venture Company forces happen to be hostile to both major factions for both quest and lore reasons.

As for Fandral, you might not see it in the games, but the information sheet on him in the Warcraft lore confirms his attitude towards the other races that he considers to be inferior to the Night Elves, and his beliefs that only the Night Elves are the Druids in all of Azeroth. Not only that, his hot temper, aggressiveness, and belief that the Night elves can be stronger through military power and expansion have been confirmed as well. As for the clashes between Fandral and Tyrande, those have been confirmed to have happened as well.

Added to the fact that Fandral had been one of the architects of the new World Tree and did it without gaining the blessing of the Dragon Aspects which left it open to corruption. His actions were not looked on with favor and trust by Malfurion and despite being the lieutenant of the Arch Druid, Fandral and Malfurion have clashed over many matters. The fact that he is willingly antagonizing Tyrande when he should be helping her keep their people together, causing a growing split among the people speaks volumes.

If you don't believe me, then check out his files in the official Warcraft site that deals with the lore in the game universe.

I decided to shorten as best I could the history of the UNSC and the war with the Covenant, however I also needed to stop since doing so where the focus should be on how the Master Chief adapts in this world while waiting for rescue would break the said focus.

Anyway, I'll see if I can crank out a new chapter soon, please send your comments, reviews, and constructive critiques, flames will naturally be thrown out the window since I don't have time to waste with flames from those who just send them to me to get on my nerves.

Before I go, I do have one question…

Will it be all right with all of you readers of this story if some women in Azeroth start getting interested in the Spartan II?

Send me your answers and opinions when you have the time so we can have something of a poll on that subject if Cortana in this story remains an A.I and takes a more motherly or sisterly relationship with John.


	5. Chapter 5

World of Warcraft x Halo

Disclaimer: Again? Ok, I don't own Bungie or Blizzard, because if I did, I wouldn't be doing this.

Chapter 4

Meeting the Sorceress…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

Cortana was busy running through the data she had acquired pertaining to the recovered Shredders that they had brought in to the Dawn for study as well as salvage to see if there was anything worth taking from the ruined vehicle that might be of some use to them later on in the near future.

And what she found about the wreck was very interesting indeed…

"Hmm….this is definitely interesting, a steam driven and powered exoskeleton with some sort of working hydraulic fluid that I don't entirely recognize. Not as advanced as the Power Armors used by the UNSC and the Covenant, but certainly not something the discard, if this was ever introduced in the Industrial Revolution on Earth back then…this would have really changed everything."

The A.I was busy reading the data concerning the schematics that they had from the Shredders that they had recovered. The Spartan was able to bring the machines in with the support of the Robotic Rovers earlier in the morning after getting some much needed sleep while still wearing his armor. She then turned to greet said Spartan as he walked into the room with a gentle smile despite not being able to see his face since he had slept in his MJOLNIR Mark VI.

Once he had gotten up, he headed out to check on the people who had taken residence in the Dawn as his, 'guests'. The freed slaves were still taking in the needed sleep as he had no doubt that being treated like slaves must have been hard on them which was why sleeping in clean comfortable beds with the temperature settings in the rooms being set for comfortable levels was heaven to them.

The three Night Elves also seemed to be getting used to the beds as well though Kaelyn was the one with the more serious feelings of comfort on the beds, he checked on them and they were sleeping well and at least the Druid named Jarrod was not a loud person when it came to sleeping in a room, otherwise he would have to worry about them getting into a fight over the whole thing.

After he was done checking on them, he arrived to have a chat with Cortana about her findings, which was when she had finished with a analysis of the Shredders.

"How are things on your end Cortana?"

"The data is very good, these devices might be primitive when placed before the standards of the UNSC in current time, but if these had been used in the Industrial Revolution back on Earth, they would have started a revolution indeed. I also managed to get some samples from the Goblin corpses we recovered before. These creatures appear to have some traces of an unknown radiation that had mutated their DNA."

"How so?"

"Well, the radiation seems to be affecting the DNA patterns that focus on the biological capacity for memory, creativity, and intelligence, almost in the same fashion as one of the augmentations used on you and the other Spartans to increase your reflexes, creativity and intelligence, but the thing is, it seems that the radiation effects are beginning to wear down."

"So you're saying that the effects are fading away? I take it the other DNA samples showed slowly decreasing radiation counts?"

"Right, in a manner of several generations, given consideration to factors including food and water supplies, diseases, famine, internal and external warfare, and old age, these Goblins will lose their intelligence. However they do have other advantages, the shorter stature can make them a lot harder to hit by regular means, and I have determined that the libido on the Goblin males is pretty high. That would lead me to think that the fertility of their females must also be high, so they actually have a very high breeding rate."

The Spartan was silent and then spoke.

"Just like the Grunts?"

Cortana nodded at that.

"You got that right, even if they lose their intelligence in the succeeding generations they can 'breed like rabbits' as one person can phrase it, couple that with their high metabolic rates, they could easily wipe out the native plant and animal life in an area they will settle. I guess that's why they don't seem to be bothered with the idea of using themselves as suicide bombers since they could literally breed by the hundreds."

The Spartan didn't like the sound of that as well as the implications of the said data, if these Goblins were able to breed at that rate, who knew what would happen if they were coming here at full force, this meant that he was going to have to make some serious considerations and plans if he had to deal with them again. However, he decided to reserve those plans for a much better time until he got more information on the other races. He had no idea if these Goblins had allies at the moment so he needed to be careful, though from what he had been able to place together, the Venture Company had some serious diplomatic issues with both the Horde and the Alliance so that might work to his advantage if he had to deal with them once more.

As soon as he placed those aside, Cortana gave him the information on the rest of the gear, the weapons were indeed guns but these were based on the old fashioned weapon designs. These didn't have the kind of power to damage his shields heavily or go through the shields themselves so he was able to handle it. Not to mention that the velocity of the weapons was not enough to avoid being detected by the optical systems of the MJOLNIR Mark VI. However, the gunpowder mix might actually be useful as this told her that the world had a working concept of technology that they could be able to use at a much later date.

For now however, he needed to get to work on how to secure the Dawn as well as build some better defenses that would ensure that attacking the dawn is going to be very risky for anyone who might get the bright idea of getting into the ship.

"Cortana, we need to get to work on how to set up a defensive base for the Dawn, do we have enough supplies for that sort of thing?"

Cortana placed aside the data that she had been looking at before and as soon as she was done with what she needed to do, she spoke to the Spartan.

"We have enough supplies for the time being, but we might need to use whatever resources we have around the area, according to the satellite's scans of the area, there appears to be some very solid granite in several areas near the mountains, I've also detected several fairly large nodes of hard iron and copper in the area, we can use those resources to help built and fortify the Dawn."

The Spartan had his doubts there and naturally voiced them out.

"How do you propose we do that? If I were to recall, we don't exactly have a furnace to melt the Iron and Copper we can find."

"We can construct one since I have some working design plans plus we have the parts for it and then we can use the Dawn's fusion reactors, even at low power, the thermal output of the engines should be more than enough to melt the metal and we can fashion a smelting area there as well to make the metal by using granite and hardened metal to mold the liquid metal into the shapes we need. Plus we have more than enough tools to work the metal as well."

The Spartan quickly ran the numbers and calculations in his mind and saw that they were going to need at least a week or so before they could get all that done with the support of the Robotic Rovers. They could also use the Pelicans to ferry the blocks of granite to the Dawn and begin building the walls around the Dawn. They needed at least walls that were two or three stories high and had to be at least four to five feet thick for extra defense. This was going to be a mammoth job and he knew that he was going to have to get a lot done soon.

"All right, no time like the present."

That was then when the doors to the room they were in opened and in walked the three Night Elves and he gave them a slight nod in greeting, they saw that and gave a nod of their own though Sandra and Jarrod were smiling a bit more than before while Kaelyn seemed to be preoccupied. The Night Elf Druid then spoke.

"For an entire ship made of metal, this place is very interesting."

The A.I gave a smirk at the arrival of their new guests and spoke to them.

"True, but keep in mind this is a warship despite being the weakest of the UNSC vessels, so it's not exactly high on creature comforts."

Sandra smiled at that.

"You've got to be joking, those beds were amazing, I've slept on a number of fairly nice beds in my travels when not in the wilderness with White Claw, but those beds are beyond anything I've felt."

Jarrod nodded at that.

"I have to agree with that as well. At any rate however, we might need to discuss some matters."

"Oh?"

"We may need to go to Theramore Isle in order to help find the real homes of the salves we rescued, and seeing that the only place will be in Theramore Isle, we need to go there in order to meet with Jaina Proudmoore."

John then spoke.

"Who is this Jaina Proudmoore anyway?"

Kaelyn knew Jaina due to having been part of the force that fought with Archimonde all those years ago and while she didn't know ALL the details that much, she knew enough to help give the Spartan a number of answers.

"Jaina Proudmoore is an Arch mage and is the current leader of Theramore Isle, she was the leader of the Alliance forces that made the exodus from Lordaeron when it fell to the invasion of the Burning Legion years before. She is considered to be a fair and just leader, open minded and tries to maintain peace between the Alliance forces here and the Horde. Those are good things to have in one's being for someone who practices the arcane arts in truth. From what I understand of her, she is the daughter of a powerful leader of the Alliance named Daelin Proudmoore who died a few years ago. She is loved by her people therein Theramore and many would willingly fight to the death to protect her, and if anyone says something bad about her, they will quickly find themselves in a very serious fight with the residents."

Cortana smiled a bit at that and turned to John and replied.

"Kind of sounds like someone we knew of."

John nodded at that as he knew already who Cortana was talking about, that person was Miranda Keyes, one of if not the most respected and skilled officers in the UNSC Navy. She was his commander in the Battles on Earth as well as in the Delta Halo all the way to the Ark and beyond, but she was killed by Truth near the end of the War. The Spartan respected her due to her skills as well as her attitude, determination as well as her dedication to duty, traits that he knew that her father also had in him before he died.

As soon as that was over, the Spartan decided to place the information before the other Night Elves, they were surprised about what he wanted to do in securing the Dawn but decided that the Spartan did have a good reason to have to fortify this place, after what they had seen in the ship, they knew that allowing just anyone in here was an open invitation to disaster, and the episode with the Goblins further reinforced that fact.

Who knew how much destruction the Goblins of Venture Company could cause if they got their hands on the weapons here in the ship, let alone the vehicles themselves?

As the group left the Spartan decided to get breakfast ready for the people and he knew that at least they had enough supplies for that though Jarrod and Sandra decided to go hunting again for supplies while Kaelyn decided to remain in the Dawn to keep an eye on things alongside the Spartan, at least an hour or so later the two came back with some wild deer as well as a collection of fruit as well as some edible fungus, which Cortana promptly scanned to make sure that the fungus was edible. She then told the Chief that they would need to restock their supplies on the ship at some point to conserve their current stashes of MREs and other left over supplies in the kitchen freezer.

It took a while for the meals to be fully cooked and served along with coffee though the Spartan made sure to keep the coffee away for the moment as he had no idea just how the caffeine in the coffee would react to the people on the ship, on humans he might have something of a guess, but for the elves…he had no idea.

As soon as breakfast was set, the Spartan went on his way to wake the freed slaves while chatting with Cortana on what she had been able to gleam from taking the DNA samples when they were treating the wounds and injuries of the slaves that they had rescued. Apparently the humans there in the group were very much the same as baseline humans though Cortana had detected some off DNA patterns that were there though they didn't seem to be leading to any mutations and appeared to be dormant for the most part. As for the new class of Elves that were among the slaves that they had rescued, there appeared to be a number of differences as well for them apart from a difference of appearance from their Night Elf companions.

For one thing, Cortana noted a number of odd DNA patterns that seem to indicate some level of exposure to energy that naturally matched magic though of a more unique, the DNA also showed a good deal of magical exposure which had no doubt made those said changes. The changes seemed to indicate a much higher need for more energy to be taken in. Cortana determined that this seemed to be similar to how a drug addicts' very biology is affected; drug users have certain parts of their bodies as well as their thinking processes altered by constant use of the drugs they needed. As their bodies developed tolerances, they need bigger doses, this might relieve their cravings for the drug, but it also served to increase their dependence on it as well and make them more unstable.

John noted that he needed more data to be sure and hoped that if he had a chance he would be able to get some DNA samples from Kaelyn and the other Night Elves for a more effective and precise estimation as well as analysis to figure out anything else that would prove to be very helpful to him in the future.

He then checked the DNA samples taken from the ones who had elf and human features and found them to have several similar traits in terms of DNA apart from appearances from their respective parents. Cortana compared the DNA of both humans and elves and determined that they had the required DNA compatibility to have such children. However, the ones that were known as half elves didn't have the same level of mutation due to magical energy exposure and while having some considerable talent, Cortana had determined that they didn't share the same magical addiction as full blooded Elves who were not related to the Night Elves.

All this data would prove helpful in the near future as far as both John and Cortana could tell so it would be best that they were able to hold all the information that they would soon need when the time came. The people woke up a bit later and were soon trooping to the mess hall and were quick to eat the food that was presented to them. The Spartan soon joined them and made sure to keep an eye on the people here to make sure that nothing unexpected might happen in the ship.

So far it seemed that things were well enough, but Chief Mendez had taught him to always be ready for anything and there was no telling just what else he would be encountering on this world that he happened to have landed in. He spoke with Cortana about establishing a communications array to contact any UNSC Ships that might be passing by so they would be soon rescued, and the A.I replied that until they got all the data, that can be kept in the back seat though they were still going to make sure that they got the equipment set up for that.

…

As soon as breakfast was set, he told the slaves that he intended to take them to Theramore Isle and ask if they could be taken to anywhere they wished to go once he was done talking with the head of the government on Theramore Isle, Jaina Proudmoore, but before he did so, he would need to fortify the ship first to prevent anyone from just walking into the area and doing all sorts of damage or steal anything inside the ship while he was away. He was then surprised when the group of humans, elves, and the half elves asked if they could be able to help him in doing those said tasks as a way to thank him for helping free them.

John was not sure that this was such a good idea, but Cortana replied that they might need the extra help and besides, it would certainly cut down on time. The Spartan had his doubts but decided to chance it and asked each of the people there how they would be able to help him. It turned out that the group were used not just as manual labor but they also had gained some skills that could be useful such as masonry, metal working and some level of basic chemistry, no doubt due to the Goblins deciding to use them for more dangerous work. This was further confirmed by the elderly man who told his name.

The old man's name was Samson Hightower and he had been part of a much larger group of slaves who were used by the Goblins for manual labor and the like, however those assignments had led to a lot of injuries and deaths as well. This naturally angered the Spartan and the UNSC A.I a good deal as the idea of this was appalling to them. The Spartan naturally replied that they were under no law to help him, but the old man refused.

"You saved our lives and you have risked yourself and your comrades to help us, you gave us shelter, food, beds to sleep in, warm clothes, and all without asking for reward of any kind. It would be wrong to us to not give something to thank you in return, we may not have money, no gold, no silver, not even a simple copper coin, but we have out knowledge and our hands to help you. Please kind Spartan, give us a chance to repay you in some way."

The Spartan could see that persuading the old man was not going to work, so what was the point of saying no to him.

"I….all right, but I need you to promise me that you will not speak of this place to anyone, I prefer to keep my secrets with me until I know more."

Samson nodded and so did the other humans as well as the Elves and the Half elves with the old man speaking.

"We swear by the Holy Light we will keep our promise."

As soon as that was done, the Spartan began to gather supplies that he would be needing in order to get the walls built, Cortana had suggested that the walls should be circular around the Dawn and should be at least three stories high and should be reinforced with Iron that they were going to turn into High tensile strength steel in the furnace which would soon be coated with a special anti-rusting agent along with some copper, with sheets of the said Steel alloy to be used to act as outer wall plating. The metal would then be held into place with Instacrete. The substance was a remarkable result in UNSC technology and would also be used to bind the granite walls together as well as add an extra level of defense to the walls themselves as the material could handle a large number of small arms plasma fire before being burned away. The formula was well known to the Spartans as part of their education and was fairly easy to make and since the satellite had determined that a good number of materials was available on this planet, it would not be a stretch for them to make some batches that would possibly meet the standard.

The Spartan took one of the Albatross Heavy Drop ships as well as a good amount of UNSC explosive ordnance and some other tools to begin mining the granite that they were going to need for their work. They were naturally bringing along some of the people that the Spartan had rescued to help with the location of good quality granite. Once they arrived on site, the large amount of granite was determined to be enough for a quarter of the walls that they needed. The Spartan went to work in getting the ordnance set and was soon blasting away at the granite, making sure to cut only the right size slabs as well as the required thickness. It was going to be a mammoth task which was why he resorted to using the Albatross Drop-ships as they had better carrying capacity than the Pelicans.

The people onboard were amazed at the fact that they were in such flying ships but they were more concerned with that they needed to do for their savior. It was hard work but the Spartan was able to get a large amount of granite slabs that they needed. It was a good amount of hours before a large number of slabs were brought in. As soon as the slabs were brought in to the site, the people working began to dig trenches into the soil before the Dawn in what was a pentagon like pattern. Cortana then had begun to repurpose the Shredders with the Spartan helping with the repairs.

It took most of the day with Kaelyn, Jarrod and Sandra as well as her pet White Claw to help secure the area while the work was going on. Once the Shredders were finished, the Spartan was able to teach the humans and elves as well as the half elves to drive the machines, the steam saws on the still intact units were removed and replaced with hands similar to the ones they had though that took even more time so the upgrades took at least a full day and night. This allowed the others to rest with the Spartan and the Night Elves handling security with Cortana.

The next day, the Spartan repeated the process of gathering more slabs of granite of the required height and thickness. Once those were brought in the area, trenches were dug into the ground with the aid of the Shredders this time around, cutting the time in half. It was slow work and so the children in the group were tasked to help ferry supplies of water and food to the workers while the Night Elves and the Master Chief were busy handling the defenses of the place. However they were suddenly surprised to see an approaching Night Elf patrol force.

It turned out to be Kaelyn's patrol and the Senior Sentinel officer was happy to see some familiar faces before her. She was quick to fill them in on what had happened and Jarrod was more than willing to confirm it all with the use of his magic to show the events to his fellow Night Elves. Many of them were surprised by this and decided that they should at least help their commander in protecting the area until they were told otherwise.

Naturally Kaelyn was not sure that it was such a good idea as they were still duty bound to patrol the forests of Kalimdor and helping them would be breaking that oath. However the second in command, Sentinel Nasha Starrider replied to that by saying that they were still doing their duty as this area was still under their protection.

The senior Night Elf Sentinel decided to allow it and there was now a fairly large patrol group there in the area to help ease the burden of defending the location. There was some tension between the Night Elves and the other elves along with the half elves, but the Spartan was more than ready to remind them that fighting with one another was not the wisest of ideas under his watch and he would not like it at all.

Once they had gathered more than enough slabs of granite of the right thickness, length of at least ten feet, and height, the Spartan began to work in the process of gathering enough Iron and Copper, the search proved to be fairly demanding as it took some time to find nodes of the metal but after three days, the Spartan was able to locate more than enough rich veins of the metal and with the right use of explosives as well as some other useful tools, he and the others who were with him were able to get more than enough ore and with the satellite overhead, locating rich veins of ore was rather easy for the Spartan and those who worked with him to gather the ores he needed.

Once those were brought back, the work on setting up the walls began but not before several bunkers which were in the corners as well as between the areas which would be in the middle of the walls and those bunkers were made from pure Instacrete. The Bunkers were given a full 180 degrees viewing point to make sure that the bunkers had overlapping fields of fire once that was done; the walls were then placed into the trenches.

The Shredders were used to move the slabs to their required position, some of the slabs were then cut with the use of Thermite Carbon Cord in order to make sure that they were able to fit in nicely into the trenches, there were even seven foot high niches carved into the walls to serve as rooms with stairs constructed of removed sections of granite that were cut down into steps and held together by Instacrete. The granite that came from the carved out areas was used to reinforce key areas that were seen as vulnerable.

Once that was done, the next step was to make a single massive gate that was placed there with two seven feet high bunkers there in the top of the walls and two more in the bottom at the sides of the gate made from Instacrete which would serve to tighten security in the gate's area.

This took a full half week thanks to the extra support they had from the freed slaves as well as the re purposed Shredders that were rebuilt. Once that was done, the Spartan allowed the people to take a full half days; rest, once that was done, they went to work into making the furnace and getting down to work in melting the ore to make the metal though the Spartan and the A.I worked to create the Steel alloy. This was the longest part of the process but also the most valuable as the metal plating would be useful in adding some serious defensive power to the whole wall system. The Spartan went to work in the furnace and as soon as it was done, the ore was poured in as well as a good amount of carbon that was soon introduced. However, the two began to create the right mix to make TR Steel. This was much stronger than regular steel and would be very effective to serve as both armor and reinforcing structural support for the walls.

Once the metal ore was properly melted, the Spartan and the A.I moved the steel down to the granite molds that were made and as soon as the metal was cooled after massive clouds of steam came out from the molds once they were cooled, the Spartan and the A.I brought it back into the furnace to melt down once more. This went on for a full two days in order for the Spartan and Cortana to determine if the crystal lattice and chemical composition was right. Once they were happy that the result was equal or was indeed TR Steel, they ended the whole process and created inch thick metal plating and bathed it in anti-corrosion liquid. With that over and done with they soon had the Shredders take the sheets and place them on the walls, they then placed a thin layer of Instacrete to hold the metal plating there. Once that was done, they used another layer of Instacrete on the sides to keep the plate deep in place. There was still plenty of the Steel alloy and therefore those were made into pillars that were placed to reinforce the walls with the aid of the Shredders who carried the pillars to their assigned location. All throughout this week, the Robotic Rovers were able to support everything easily by ferrying supplies and more besides from place to place.

In the end, the pentagon shaped wall was a good one hundred feet away from the Dawn and with the Instacrete fully hardened; the walls were now very resilient to attack by conventional means and when possibly imbued with magic, can even resist magical attack

This took almost the whole week, but now the walls were complete and that was a very good thing for the Spartan, the addition of the freed slaves and the rebuilt and redesigned Shredders had also cut down on time and effort. And he made sure to thank them for it. Samson and the others were very happy with the praise from their savior and they soon were able to sleep properly and dreamed of finally being able to return to their homes and families if they were still around for them to meet once more.

This also meant that they were soon going to be able to go to Theramore Isle, though the Spartan told Jarrod to go to Tyrande and tell her that with the Dawn fully secured with defensive walls around it, they were soon ready to meet with Jaina and he would really be grateful if a message could be sent to Jaina to expect them soon. The Druid was more than happy to do that part and was soon in Crow form and flew back to Darnassus.

…

In the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus…

Tyrande finished listening to Jarrod's report and while she had been interested in getting some rest, hearing about what had been going on with their Spartan guest was something that she could not turn down. So far it seemed that he was not causing any trouble though she had to admit that seeing his actions was both interesting and slightly impressive. The High Priestess then looked at the window nearby to see the stars of the night and nodded mentally to herself that she should contact Jaina soon and inform the Arch-mage that the guests that she had spoken of before were soon going to be on their way.

"Thank you for the report Jarrod, I think it would be best you head back to the Dawn and report to the Chief that I will send a message to Jaina to inform her of their arrival."

"Yes High Priestess."

As Jarrod left, Tyrande then spoke out seriously to the shadows.

"Fandral I know you are there, come out now and stop trying to sneak into the Temple at this late an hour."

Sure enough, the Arch Druid came from the shadows and the look of anger was there on his face as he spoke.

"You still allow this human, this Spartan to remain in our lands Tyrande, why is that?"

Tyrande then replied seriously to the words spoken by the Arch Druid.

"I have made my decision Fandral, he is not an enemy of ours and should not be seen as one by anyone."

"And how can you be so sure we can even trust him? He has already shown his people's power and no doubt since we have not been shown everything that he knows, we have no idea what else he can do? What can we possibly do if he decides to attack us?"

Tyrande sighed and replied.

"I am willing to take that risk, if he does betray us, then I will personally fight him when the time comes. But until that time comes, he is our guest and as such he is to be treated with respect and courtesy Fandral and I want you to know that this should be the last time you come here in this Temple in this fashion."

Fandral looked at the High Priestess and saw that Tyrande was serious and gave a mocking bow and left. As soon as he was gone, Tyrande sighed once more and decided to go to her room and get some much needed sleep for the days to come, the diplomats were a bit delayed due to arranging travel requirements due to some news that had stopped them from going ahead with their plans to arrive tomorrow.

…

The next day…

The people in the ship were amazed at the sight of the lands below them as they were currently looking over the lands through the viewing areas of the Albatross heavy Drop-ship. The number of people made it necessary for the Spartan to use the Albatross instead of the Pelican Drop-ship in order to make use of the space. The reason was that if he had taken Pelicans, there would have been an extra expense on the fuel supplies they had in the base.

Before they left, the Spartan had suggested that the remaining Night Elf patrol forces would remain in the Dawn to secure it while Cortana handled the outside security with the use of another copy of herself to handle the security systems. The Spartan had plans to further increase the defensive ability of the base by setting up defensive weapons in the walls with the use of the weapons and supplies that were on-board the Dawn. But he decided that it could wait for his return once he met with Jaina Proudmoore as well as gather even more information that will prove very useful in what he needed to learn about the world.

Not only that, he would be able to get some idea on the Wars that had been fought in the lands of this planet that he had landed in, that information can be very valuable as this would allow him to determine just what were the factors that shaped the land, it's people, it's factions, and naturally it's political infrastructure, valuable data indeed, plus the records in Theramore, if he can get permission from the leader Jaina, could provide more clues as well as more ideas about the Alliance and the Horde, both in the Second War and the Third War.

He was currently armed with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle loaded with standard 7.63x51mm FMJ AP Rounds as well as Shredder Rounds with a full combat load, along with a fully loaded M90A CAWS Shotgun with a full combat load, he also had a pair of standard issue UNSC Grenades and a Combat Knife on his back, along with that was a rucksack with spare ammunition, grenades, some MREs, and also a set of Health Packs and spare medical supplies. He knew that he was soon going to be in unknown territory so no sense not going in there prepared.

Cortana then spoke to him via the holo-tank inside the Albatross Drop-ship's command area where Kaelyn was while Sandra, Jarrod and White Claw checked on the people in the back.

"You know we're on a diplomatic mission Chief, why did you have to bring this much firepower with you?"

"Better safe than sorry."

Cortana gave an amused sigh while Kaelyn observed the two of them as they began to talk to one another. It became obvious that the two had worked together for years judging by the casual way that the A.I talked to the Spartan, while she had no idea what to make of the blue glowing woman and she had no idea what exactly an A.I was but there was no doubt in her mind that the two were very close and worked well together in battle and beyond that though she was still taking only simple guesses. So far there seemed to be no difficulty in seeing that the two were close, and it was odd that the woman could talk to the Spartan so freely and he didn't seem to mind at all. She wondered just how they had met…

The Night Elf Sentinel shook her head at that train of thought and focused on other things.

(Why am I curious as to how these two met? Why am I suddenly thinking these things?)

She was so wrapped up in thought that it took the Spartan tapping her shoulder gently to wake her up from her train of thoughts, giving a slight gasp and finding herself staring at the Spartan who was looking at her, she managed to recover her wits and spoke to the Spartan.

"What is it?"

"You seem to be deep in thought, is there something bothering you?"

Kaelyn shook her head and replied.

"No, I was just thinking about this, it's actually the first time I have ever set foot in a place like Theramore Isle, I've only heard stories of it after all."

The Spartan continued to look at her and for some reason, instead of thinking of her face looking back at her, the female Night Elf began to think of the Spartan bare of his helmet and that reflective golden face plate, his face looking at her with the same intense brown eyes…

(Ahhh! By Elune! What is wrong with me? I am not some simple young girl looking at a handsome male anymore! I am a Sentinel and I should act like one! I must not think like this when he is looking at me!)

"Are you going to be all right once we're in Theramore? If you don't feel like it you and your friends can stay here while I speak with Jaina Proudmoore."

Kaelyn didn't know why but she suddenly felt this urge not to let the Spartan out of her sight for a moment, and that confused her as she already knew that he was more than able to take care of himself if the time came. That was more than enough reason for her not to worry too much about the Spartan when it came to combat. However, it seemed that losing sight of the Spartan did not appeal to her for some reason. Not only that, the idea of him being alone with other females seemed to make her feel somewhat unsettled.

Yet another reason why she was confused with herself as she managed to reply.

"No I'll be fine."

The Spartan nodded finally and turned his attention back to piloting the Albatross, much to Kaelyn's relief as she was not in the mood to be under his scrutiny for any longer, not when she was still trying to make sense of her thoughts for the moment.

It was not long before they were soon in sight of Theramore Isle and the Spartan wondered on one promising question.

'Where was he going to land the Albatross?'

…

In Theramore Isle's seat of power…

Jaina was currently busy reading a scroll when her chamberlain, the former Guardian of Trisfal, Aegwynn arrived and spoke to her.

"You seem to be deep in thought Jaina, what is it?"

The young Arch-mage turned and answered her.

"I just wonder about this Spartan that Lady Tyrande spoke of to me, she had mentioned that he will soon arrive here in Theramore, and while she had indeed assured me that he is no agent of the Legion, I am very concerned about all the other things that she has told me about him and where he comes from."

The former Guardian nodded at that as she had been there in hearing the information brought forward by the High Priestess of the Night Elves. To hear that they were dealing with a human being who came from such a world where technology was the prime driving force while magic was none existent was rather surprising as well as the fact that they were able to flourish in what would have been nearly a thousand worlds. Jaina was very much interested to learn as much as she could about this Spartan, but there were some other things that she was a bit worried about. After hearing about the battles he had been in previously, she was concerned about how he might react to being in Theramore, not to mention how the others would feel about him.

"You are worried about what you have learned about him I see, it's understandable, I certainly am interested to hear just how his world had reached such a level like that without magic to aid them myself."

Jaina smiled at her long time mentor and understood the interest in Aegwynn on meeting this person, the former Guardian had no interest in meeting regular people but something about the Spartan got her interest and she was curious about what this Spartan had to say. Jaina knew this for a fact and decided to let the matter rest down for now as she herself was interested to meet this Spartan and hear what he had to say about himself and where he had come from.

However, there was one thing that bothered her, when she asked the High Priestess when she should expect the Spartan to arrive, Tyrande replied that he would make quite an entrance and be there shortly. Jaina knew that it was a considerable distance from Theramore to most parts of Kalimdor and naturally there was the risk of crossing the swamps around Theramore Isle which was filled a large amount of deadly wildlife along with rumored Ogres that raid passing groups every now and then. The Dustwallow Marsh is never to be traveled lightly by even the most seasoned soldiers, even though her people had secured key travel points in the swamp, it was still extremely difficult to secure the whole area and with the various predators around, expanding too far was not an option.

She then spoke.

"I wonder how does this….Spartan intend to travel from Kalimdor to Theramore is not on foot?"

The Arch-mage got her answer when the sounds of roaring beasts were heard in a moment the Arch-mage wondered if they were suddenly under attack and when she and Aegwynn looked outside they spotted a massive metallic ship moving to the open field. The two Arch-mages were stunned by this and quickly got out as several members of the Theramore Elite Guard moved out to protect both Jaina and Aegwynn while a large number of the Theramore Guard arrived to surround the ship while keeping the people of the area from getting close to the massive ship.

Several doors opened and to the surprise of everyone in Theramore Isle, three Night Elves came out from the ship, one was a Sentinel from her clothing, while the other was a Hunter since she was dressed as one and had a wolf as a pet, and the other was a Druid. The three Night Elves moved out of the ship and were soon joined by a number of humans, high elves, and some half elves. And soon out came a massive figure in green and black armor with a golden visor that hid his face from anyone who tried to get a look.

Aegwynn and Jaina however were able to recognize the armored figure to the Spartan than Tyrande described to them when she contacted them twice, and the former Guardian spoke out with a slight smile on her face.

"It seems that Tyrande was right, this Spartan does like to make an entrance."

…

After a while, the Theramore Guards were told to stand down by none other than General Norris, head of their organization, once that was done the veteran officer spoke to the Spartan and his group.

"Who is in charge here?"

The Spartan moved forward and recognizing that the man before him was a high ranking officer, he quickly reverted to his military training and placed his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle down with the safety on and spoke in crisp fashion while giving a salute.

"I am sir!"

Norris was surprised by that as he looked at the giant of a man in green and black armor as well as the golden faceplate that hid the face of this being before him. He had at first thought that it was a golem of some sort, but he dismissed that idea as this being moved too fluidly and naturally to be a construct, and while he was no expert on Golems or constructs by a long shot, he knew that Golems had to be larger and more powerful, and while this one was certainly powerful looking, it was still man sized. Not to mention that the weapons it seemed to have were guns of some sort and he doubted that regular golems had the knowledge to use guns, and these were unlike any weapons he happened to know of.

He then decided to reply to the salute and spoke, deciding to use military language and manners when dealing with this being.

"At ease soldier, I am General Norris, head of the Theramore Guard. What's your name and rank?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, UNSC Navy sir!"

General Norris raised an eyebrow and decided to take a stab at an idea on how to make further sense on what was going on before him.

"All right, I assume that the first four words you spoke is your rank?"

"Yes sir!"

"And the fifth- word and the numbers is your name and designation?"

"Yes sir!"

"And the last is the group you belong to, all right then, what's your business here in Theramore, and what in the name of the Holy Light is this thing?"

"We came here to drop off a number of freed slaves that we were able to rescue for the Goblin Venture Company, we were hoping that they were going to be allowed the chance to return to their homes once they are allowed to leave the area by an y travel means available. We were also told by High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind to speak to Jaina Proudmoore. And for this, this is an Albatross Drop-ship, used by the UNSC to carry increased numbers of troops, vehicles and supplies into combat zones and serve as a temporary command center."

Norris looked the thing over, whoever this…Master Chief belonged to had some SERIOUS muscle and know how, there was not a single bit of dwarven or gnomish work on this thing, at all. He then decided to send one of the guardsmen to speak to Lady Proudmoore about this.

"All right, I'll lay aside the questions for now, I'll see if Lady Proudmoore is indeed expecting you, if she is, I suggest that you leave your weapons before you enter the building where she is, is that understood?"

The Spartan nodded at that, Norris then dispatched one of the Guardsmen to speak to Lady Proudmoore, and it was not long before the Guardsman came back to report that Jaina Proudmoore was indeed waiting for the Spartan, thus the Guardsmen formed an escort force around the Spartan and the three Night Elves who followed. The Spartan however noted that the men were gripping their weapons tightly, all waiting as if given the signal to attack. He managed to rein in his combat honed reflexes from reacting and reminded himself that they had never met him before and were no doubt trying to get used to his presence.

Cortana agreed with that as she spoke to the Spartan.

"Keep your cool here John, these guys are professionals, but they are certainly nervous so try not to do anything rash, we are on a diplomatic run after all."

"Right."

They soon arrived that the castle which according to what Sandra told him before they left the Dawn was the main area where the government of Theramore was centered and where they could find Jaina Proudmoore, the Spartan determined that the location and fortifications were ideal for defense. But there was nothing that a few well placed explosives couldn't cure if push came to shove.

The group finally arrived in entrance and the Spartan then placed aside his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as his M90A Shotgun on the table outside along with his Combat Knife and the Grenades as well as his rucksack under the supervision of the Theramore Elite Guards who he had noted were wearing very effective armor and carried themselves crisp professionalism and discipline, good marks for soldiers due to his memory of training and years of experience.

As soon as he entered the building that served as the headquarters of the leader of Theramore Isle, he looked about to study the defensibility of the place he was entering, several armed guards in chain and plate mail were in the room and several glowing crystals as well, Cortana then spoke to him in their private COM channel.

"Those appear to be some sort of magical sensors, makes sense that they would have that around, this would no doubt tell them if anyone has hostile intent towards anyone here."

It was at this point that Jaina Proudmoore and Aegwynn arrived into the hallways to meet the Spartan.

…

Immediately the Spartan began to assess both women who were coming towards him.

The first was a woman who had deep white hair and had glowing eyes of that were blue and white, this told him easily enough that this was no ordinary person before him. The woman was attractive and seemed to radiate power and authority despite her apparent attempts to hide her presence. She wore the clothes of a chamberlain but the Spartan could tell that she was not an ordinary being, he then switched his normal vision mode in the MJOLNIR's helmet to the one used to detect magic and saw that the woman's power levels were very high despite not being as bright as the other one, however, he could sense that she was a lot stronger in terms of knowledge and experience and that counted for something in the veteran warrior's mind. One thing was certain to the Spartan, this was a person that deserved to respect and also to wary of, though not to the point of paranoia.

Cortana naturally was scanning the woman as well as John and gave her own conclusion.

"She uses a different form of power from the ones we've met, it has the same type of power as the other one who might very well be Jaina Proudmoore. This woman seems to be a lot stronger than she looks. Let's make sure to keep an eye on her but not to the point of revealing we suspect her to be more than she seems, the fact she's trying to make herself meld with the background is very telling."

"Right."

The Spartan then turned his attention to the younger looking Sorceress, she had blonde hair, deep blue eyes and was very much an attractive woman and carried herself with strength in both body and mind, this told her that she was a studious person and quite knowledgeable. The Spartan could also see a sense of independence and spirit, and tempered with compassion for life with a willingness to fight only as a last resort. The Spartan knew this by looking at the way the woman moved and acted, something that he learned at a young age. The woman also dressed in a rather unique fashion hat further separated her from the others. She had on some form of shoulder armor that appeared to be thin but strong and light, next her some form of outer vest that had sleeves up to the elbows with golden thread lining, the inner garment had long sleeves and more elaborate designs in golden thread at the end. She had a type of lightweight armor plating there on what appeared to be a tank top style garment that revealed her stomach with a purple cloth outer garment with golden thread lining similar to the vest she has on, and a long white skirt that had golden designs there as well. She had in her hands some sort of staff made from an unknown material with a emerald crystal that was shaped like a spearhead and glowed with power and light.

The Spartan could tell that these two women were powerful and from what he could see, there was no doubt that this was going to be a very long discussion.

As for Jaina and Aegwynn they too sensed something about their guest.

…

For the former Guardian of Trisfal, she could feel that the person was studying her earlier, trying to figure out what was she hiding. This impressed the nearly millennia old woman, she had enough power and experience to hide her true self and abilities from most people with the exception of Jaina who knew who she really was. But this…'Spartan' seemed to be able to tell that she was more than a simple chamberlain. She also sensed something….the aura of a veteran warrior who had seen and done much. She had no idea why but she could sense it, and there were only few people who could have such an aura. King Varian was one such person, along with Bolvar Fordragon, King Llane Wynn, and of course, Anduin Lothar himself.

While in the past, she had no interest in meeting warriors, there was no denying that she had met some very capable ones and this being had such an aura. Something that she knew was worthy of respect, she sensed no magic in him yet she could tell that there was…something there, something with power yet unlike anything she had seen and felt before in her life.

(Hmmm….this bears more looking into.)

…

For Jaina, there was no doubt that this person was someone who was a full bred warrior. She had seen and met her fair share of male warriors before, namely those who came to her new home to rest and eat as well as do trade. She had asked them to tell her stories and tales of the outside world and there was no doubt that this person before her had much to tell her. She had been told by Tyrande about what she herself had learned from the Spartan when he had been in Darnassus under her personal invitation and it was surprising to the young mage.

To learn that before her was a human who came from beyond the stars, from a race of humans who never used magic yet had craved an empire that nearly spanned a thousand worlds and made ships that traversed the realms beyond worlds. Such tales really attracted the attention of the young woman who had always had a thirst for knowledge. But that knowledge was tempered by what Tyrande had said about these humans fighting a large collection of races that wielded greater technology than these humans that Spartan was part of.

She couldn't help but be shocked and horrified at the idea of warfare that spanned whole worlds, yet somehow the humans from this world endured and fought on. Tyrande had told her that she requested the Spartan to stop showing the images since she couldn't take anymore of the sight of such slaughter. But maybe she could hear the rest.

For whatever case, she decided to let the man speak for himself and judge accordingly. Her times in fighting the Legion and the Scourge told her that it was better to learn all that she could about anyone new before making a plan of action on how to deal with the people who came to her new home. She will do her best to avoid bloodshed and combat and only resort to violence when there is no other viable option.

She then wondered just how she would be able to deal with the chance that the Horde would hear of this Spartan, but decided that it could wait for a more advantageous time, though she knew that she needed to be ready for anything that will happen soon.

…

As the groups looked at one another, Jaina decided to go first and make the needed introductions between herself, Aegwynn and the Spartan.

"Greetings to you Chief, I am Jaina Proudmoore, leader of Theramore Isle, High Priestess Tyrande mentioned to me that you would be coming. Though I have to admit she was right about you making quite an entrance."

The Spartan raised an eyebrow at that, but he remembered that magic was supposed to allow long range communications to some degree through other means so he was not all that surprised by what happened before him. So he naturally replied.

"I see, is there any chance that an arrangement could be reached on how to send the freed slaves home to their families?"

Jaina nodded at that.

"There is, I'll send word to the capital of Stormwind and see if there are any family members of the people you rescued there, and if there are some I will have them sent to the city with enough funds to get home as well as a small escort to make sure that they arrive home safely."

The Spartan could tell that Jaina was not lying and that was enough to give him a good deal of relief as he replied.

"Thank you….I'm sorry but I'm afraid I don't know how to properly address you."

The Arch-mage smiled and replied to that.

"I already have given you my full name so you may use that if you wish, or if you want to be in a more formal setting , Lady Jaina or Proudmoore will do. I hope that what I have offered is to your satisfaction?"

"It is, by the way, may I ask permission to view the records and books you have here in your city's library?"

Jaina and Aegwynn were surprised slightly by that, even though they had been told by Tyrande that the Spartan was interested in gathering all the information about the world he was in, it was a bit surprising to hear a warrior being this interested in knowledge. However, it actually made both smile, for Aegwynn, meeting a warrior who had a deep interest in lore as well as history was refreshing, and for Jaina this would be a good way to observe the Spartan. It was then that Jaina decided to ask about the history of the UNSC as she had been very interested in ever since being told of the Spartan by the Night Elf leader.

"Before that Chief, I heard from High Priestess Tyrande about where you can from, I want to ask specifically about the end of this war between the UNSC and Covenant, I heard from Tyrande that you had cut it short and I can easily imagine why since warfare like what she described that lasted for thirty years is horrible. But if you were at war, then how did you get here?"

The Spartan replied to that.

"It's a long story."

Jaina then replied.

"It's all right, I happen to have an interest in long stories, but if you do not mind, I would like it better if you were to remove your helmet so I can see what you look like."

The Spartan looked uneasy and he spoke to the Arch-mage.

"Do you really require me to do that?"

Jaina wondered why the Spartan seemed to hesitate in removing his helmet and she replied.

"If that is all right with you, It would be rather strange for me to talking to a faceless being, that is something I find difficult to adjust to, however, if you do not wish to do so, then it is all right."

John then spoke to Cortana in secret and since he had locked down the outside speakers, he had no doubt that their conversation was going to be private.

"What do you think?"

The A.I replied to that.

"I think its best that you remove the helmet, at least she's nice enough to ask your permission and is willing to let the matter be if you don't want your face to be revealed"

"You sure?"

"Positive John, go ahead. I also happen to be very curious as to what will the results be once they get a good look at your face. "

"What?"

"Don't worry, once they see that you're a human like them, they can be assured that you are not something else entirely."

With that in mind, the Spartan decided to remove his helmet once more, the seals of the helmet moved away automatically with a snap and hiss to release the atmosphere in the helmet and soon his face was revealed. Naturally the Spartan didn't like to reveal his face all the time since he found it to be a bit disconcerting and difficult to be out of even a single piece of his MJOLNIR Armor but if it was going to help then so be it. Of course the Spartan had no idea just how his appearance can affect the opposite sex when he revealed himself.

Kaelyn looked at the Spartan's exposed features once more, silently taking in the features she had seen previously back in Darnassus when he had been there under the invitation of the High Priestess. The Night Elf Sentinel had tried to deny it but she had developed a desire to see the Spartan's features once more, and now she was getting the chance. Even after seeing just how deadly he could in two different occasions before, she began to develop a sense of respect for him due to what he had accomplished and what he had done as well.

Sandra had to admit that she was starting to like seeing the Spartan's appearance as for a human he was rather handsome to say the very least. She had seen humans before and found a number of them to be attractive in many ways. The Spartan however was handsome in a way that was very interesting and had an allure of danger as well. After seeing him fight, she had feeling that there was soon going to be more to come and she was interested to see just what else this human was capable of doing in combat.

Jaina herself was surprised, there was no doubt that the human before her was rather handsome, but the eyes were very interesting, they were brown yet glowed with an inner fire that had nothing to do with magic in any sense. There was something else there in his eyes that was also very interesting, they seemed to radiate a very powerful sense of calm, a calm that seemed to be quite hard to ignore since it spoke of a person with a lot of experience.

Aegwynn thought in the same as Jaina did, she could see that despite the youthful appearance of the Spartan, his eyes told her that he had seen many things in the years that he had been alive. This got the interest of the former Guardian as she looked at the Spartan as he looked at each of them slowly.

…

As for John, he was not showing it but he was getting a bit annoyed that people would look at him like that most of the time, Many female UNSC Marines used to joke at him when he would look at them and while none of the people were speaking to him as of yet, he felt like he was being studied. However, he maintained his professionalism until Jaina spoke.

"I'm sorry about that, do you mind if we all could sit down?"

"Of course, though I prefer to stand."

"Why?"

"My armor happens to weigh half a ton, so it would not be wise for me to sit down on an ordinary chair."

With that, the Spartan began to tell the tale and planned to reveal the images as soon as Cortana was ready with the information while those in the room sat down to listen to the story he was about to tell them.

…

Unknown to everyone…

Erin Firestar looked on at the now exposed Spartan's features and couldn't help but be impressed by what she was seeing. The Blood Elf rogue had been sent there from Quel'Thalas to keep an eye on the things happening on Theramore isle to help determine the current situation of both the Alliance and their new allies that were there in Kalimdor who were naturally the Horde forces who resided in the continent by the High Council back in their rebuilding capital. She personally had no interest in such things as she recalled just what the Horde forces had done in the Second War, in fact it was the Orcs and their marauding allies the Trolls and the Ogres who had desecrated the land where several powerful Rune stones of her people were located, they corrupted it and used it for their own ends, and it was there that both her brothers and her father had died trying to defend them.

She had at once served as a Sorceress to the cause of fighting the Horde for many years after her mother died of a broken heart. But ever since the Alliance left them during the war with the Scourge and the Burning Legion, she had developed an intense dislike for the Alliance, she had dedicated her life to the cause put forward by Lothar and the survivors of Azeroth, but when her people needed help the most, with the Scourge, they were abandoned. Their prince never gave up on the Alliance and neither did the others but when that racist human Marshall arrested them for their desperate alliance with the Naga and sentenced them to death, she broke all ties with them. She would have fallen to the magical addiction like the rest of her kin, but she resisted it and took up the profession of a rogue to be different from the others. Not only to be different and to resist the pull of magical addiction but to honor her father and brothers.

Her father had been a gifted archer despite his mastery of the arcane and the same could said for her brothers who had magical talent but chose to become swordsmen. Her mother bemoaned that but loved them nevertheless and that was why she died of a broken heart when they were killed. And when the Sun well was corrupted and lost due to the fallen prince Arthas, she took this profession. And she had plenty of time to train long and hard to perfect her skills though she never forgot the use of the arcane.

When she was called for this duty, she was not happy but placed those thoughts aside as she knew the importance of such a mission.

She had boarded a trading vessel belonging to one of her and had just left the ship without attracting attention when she spotted the massive flying machine that came into the area of Theramore, that had given her more than enough of a distraction to make her way out of the town and head off to see what was the situation with the rest of the Horde. But her curiosity was peaked as the machine was not made by the Alliance or the Horde, it was too advanced in appearance than anything either side could make.

She managed to avoid the Theramore Guards and spotted the massive human sized being accompanied by a number of others, humans along with her former kin the Night Elves, a few half elves, and three Kal'dorei. She hissed a bit at that though not loud enough to attract attention, she should have left, but her curiosity had been attracted and she had managed to hide near a window on the ledge to look in.

And in that moment, she smiled at the sight of the Spartan with his helmet gone.

(For a human….as pale as he is….he certainly looks….delicious.)

Erin couldn't help but find the way the Spartan looked with his helmet removed to be rather exotic, he was not an elf and her senses told her that he had no magic, but that certainly didn't mean that he was not someone she could ignore. The only flaw she could see was the brown eyes, as they were not in a color she liked like deep midnight black….she had a thing for obsidian jewelry after all. But his features were perfect, almost elf like, in fact if he had the same ears as she and her….other kin did, he would have easily passed as one of them.

She was still dressed in her dark black leather armor and carried her trademark scimitars as well as a number of other items such as potions, poisons, traps, throwing knives….the stock and trade of the Rogue, though she does carry a number of other items that would help if she has to use her arcane skills.

She thought of stealing a sample of the weapons this unique human carried, but decided against it as doing so was not going to be easy and there was a chance her stealth skills would fail, after all, she was near some very powerful people and she couldn't push her luck.

For now she decided to leave and avoid company for now, as soon as she was out of this marshland, she would move to see just how the Night Elves operated in their own lands before making her way to the Horde lands. But before she leaves, she briefly looks at the Spartan and licked her lips gently.

…

Back in Darnassus…

Tyrande sighed a bit to herself as she sat down and looked at the arriving delegates of the Alliance. For the humans of Stormwind, Ambassador Alexander Durnhelm in the colors of Stormwind was first, followed by the Dwarven Ambassador Tarris Stonefist,, his female Gnomish counterpart, Yuan Gearhands, and Emissary Valustraa, the current Draenei ambassador to her people from the Exodar. As soon as the people were in their seats, she greeted them with a smile as she was in her usual spot.

"Greetings to you, I am happy that you have arrived as soon as you did."

The others nodded and soon the long discussions began, however just half way to the discussion on the current events of Kalimdor, Alexander spoke out.

"By the way Lady Tyrande, there is one matter that I have to bring to attention for the rest of my fellow ambassadors of the Alliance."

"Oh?"

"Recently one of the 7th Legion's soldiers, David Thurston who was here in your city on personal matters had spotted a being who had come to the city under considerable guard. He told his superiors that the being was almost as tall as one of the men among your people and carried weapons that were guns yet unlike anything used by the Alliance, as well as wearing armor that is unlike anything found in the Alliance or the Horde."

Tyrande felt her annoyance and surprise grow, she had hoped to keep the existence of the Spartan a secret until she was sure that she was able to tell the other leader of the Alliance of his presence while making sure to do her best to keep the Alliance from trying anything on him and getting their hands on his world's technology due to his desire to remain neutral until he was rescued. She however managed to keep her composure for the time being and replied.

"I see, and what is it you want from me?"

Alexander smiled a bit and replied.

"I personally wish to meet this being, is he here in Darnassus?"

It was not long before the other ambassadors began to ask questions and soon Tyrande saw herself in a sea of questions that she knew was going to last for quite a while until she could provide more serious answers about the Spartan's existence. She knew that this was going to be a very interesting week.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, this ends the newest chapter for World of Warcraft Halo, and here's hoping that this story is going to be a good one as I am still in a creative streak for this story so I hope to finish a full ten chapters for this story before I move to my other works, since I started this it would be bad if I cut it and lost track of my work.

The Master Chief and Cortana have just finished fortifying the Dawn and are now in Theramore isle to help the freed slaves to find their way home. And now both of them are talking to both Jaina and Aegwynn in order to read the books there as well as learn about one of the leaders of the Alliance even though Jaina's role is less now that Varian Wynn is now in his throne and ruling the Human forces. However things are about to get interesting…

The result of the 7th Legion's David Thurston's spotting of the Spartan is shown as the human Ambassador has now thrown the existence of the Spartan to the others. They might not know just who the Spartan is, but sooner or later, things are going to be very interesting. How will this change the whole situation concerning John and Cortana's neutrality?

Find out later!

Also it seems that there is going to be some very interesting situations once Jaina gets a good look at the Spartan without the helmet, what will be the results of this?

And now we have a new player in the stage, Erin Firestar happens to be a female Blood Elf who was a former Sorceress and now a Rogue. She is a spy who is sent to keep an eye on her people's new allies and also to help see how the Alliance operates in Kalimdor in a more direct fashion. And she too has a very serious history and will soon meet the Spartan face to face, though not in the way she would have expected.

You can bet that when she meets Kaelyn Sandra, White Claw, and Jarrod, things are going to get very serious indeed as her race and theirs have some very serious animosity for one another, however she will prove to be the Chief's only lead in understanding the very first Horde faction he will encounter, and naturally, it will be the Blood Elves themselves.

Will he meet other people who will represent the other races of both the Alliance and Horde? Yes he will and this will allow him to get a much larger idea of the world he happens to be in and it's history.

…

Just so we're clear on this…

The time line here for this story is before the events that will lead to the Burning Crusade so you can say that the 10th chapter will high light the entrance of the Master Chief into the Burning Crusade period in Azeroth. Before that, the Chief will take part a number of missions that will allow him to build his soon to come resource base there in Azeroth as well as help him get any materials that he cannot normally find. Along with that, he will begin to earn a reputation among the people on both Kalimdor and Azeroth, what sort of reputation that will be will be seen soon enough.

Along the way, he will take part in some situations that will further define his presence and the effects of his actions will really make things interesting for him and the world he has landed in.

….

See you all at the next chapter, send me comments, reviews, and constructive critiques, as well as suggestions that I can incorporate into my work. As for flames, I will quickly remove them and ignore them so you will already see that I am not interested in reading flames that will waste my time which I really need.


	6. Chapter 6

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or World of Warcraft so stop bothering me about it.

Chapter 5

The Unexpected Guest…

( ): Thoughts

…

In Theramore Isle…

"….and when I was awakened from cryogenic sleep by Cortana, I found that we were over this world and knowing that it was the only place that we could set up a base of operations to await rescue, even if we had no idea what was waiting for us down here, we moved out. And the next thing I knew, I landed in Kalimdor and you know the rest."

As the Spartan finally finished his story, the rest of the audience was silent by what they had been able to listen to. Jaina and Aegwynn were the most affected by the story that they had just heard from the Spartan who remained in a very calm mood as he told them the end of his story. It would have been considered a tall tale by anyone else's standards but there was evidence before them of the truth in what the Spartan told them, which was naturally himself, Cortana, and his weapons.

Jaina pondered over everything she had been told by the Spartan and then ventured an important question about the ending days of the war between the humans of his world and that of this Covenant.

"But why after nearly thirty years of such warfare and death did you choose to ally with them after all they had done to you and your people?"

John replied to that.

"We were facing a mutual threat to our respective survival, the Sangheili were also betrayed by the ones they had served for many years as the Prophets willingly allowed the Brutes to slaughter their people. And after learning the truth about the Halo Rings and what they were actually designed to do, they broke away from the Covenant. We didn't have a lot of choices to refuse their offer to fight with us against the Prophets, the Brutes and those who joined them as the Loyalists, as well as the Flood."

"Also, despite their attitudes, many of the Elites as we in the UNSC called them had already begun to question the war and even wonder why the Prophets wanted us dead the way they did. They had considered humans as brave and honorable, being their only equals despite not being in the same league as them in terms of power and technology."

"They considered humanity as such?"

John turned to Aegwynn and nodded.

"From what I knew of their culture from the Arbiter, the Sangheili had always shown respect to warriors of another race and they are not above integrating their former enemies' best warriors into their ranks. That was why there were Grunts in their originally all Sangheili forces. I admit that I have no full knowledge of their culture, but the Elites never lie about that. Ever since the events in High Charity and the betrayal of the Prophets of their race, the Elites have forged an alliance with the UNSC, though I have no doubt it is never easy."

Both women nodded at that truth, even though the Alliance was technically having a non aggression pact with the Horde, tensions and old hatreds were still there, the episode with that demon Zmodlor who had tried to re-ignite war between Theramore and Orgrimmar was still fresh on the minds of both women. Yet to know that the humans in this UNSC were willing to side with the race that had caused so much death and destruction for mutual survival was something entirely, it was somewhat similar to how she and those who were part of the Alliance that fled Lordaeron after the Legion's invasion had allied to fight the Legion until the Battle of Mount Hyjal.

With that in mind, Jaina spoke once more.

"This tale of your life is….remarkable, but I have to ask, how did you become a Spartan."

John was silent at this and wondered what he should say to her, they had been willing to listen to him when he recounted the bloody Battle over Reach, all the way to the first Halo Ring, the battles there, the encounters with the Flood and more though he had omitted that the Halo Rings were super weapons, no sense letting that out, he only told them that such devices had to be stopped before many would be lost.

He told them every major battle all the way the Ark and what happened in that location, along with the death of his friend Avery Johnson. Now they were asking him of his own life and he had no idea how to respond. But after a while, he decided that it would be best that they told his own story though he still adhered to keeping some things secret no matter what.

"I was born on a colony world, though I can no longer remember anything about my past life as a civilian child. I knew that I had parents and I loved them a great deal and only knew that my mother was a kind woman with a warm smile, and smelled of soap. I was six when I was met by two people, one of them would have an impact on my life afterwards."

Jaina asked.

"Who was that?"

"She was Dr. Catherine E, Halsey, she headed the Spartan II Program, she had been there to look for candidates for the program and I fit the bill easily. I was already a foot higher than most children at my age, I had perfect physical proportions, I was stronger, faster, and had a drive for success that went against most young children at that age. She was also impressed with my intellect and luck, she tested me with a coin, I was to determine which side the coin would land on, I watched it and caught it in it's drop and told correctly that it's side that the eagle was going to be face up."

"Afterwards I was covertly kidnapped and replaced…"

That got the attention of the people there as Aegwynn spoke.

"You were kidnapped?"

"Yes, and replaced by a Flash Clone, a living replica of myself right down to the last cell, but Flash Cloned humans never lasted long, in two months they would suffer massive physical diseases as well as neurological ones due to massive biological defects in the process in which they were made. This was done so that it would make it seem that they died of natural causes, many others like me who qualified were also replaced by Flash Clones to cover up their kidnappings."

That truth shocked many of the people there and Kaelyn finally broke her silence and spoke.

"How…how could they do that you, take you from your family, replace you with a copy that was doomed to die?"

John looked at her and then the others as he calmly replied.

"There was a good reason after all, in my time there were revolts and brush fire wars that would have resulted in many deaths in both the civilian and military populations if conventional means were ever used. The Spartan II program was meant to create a covert force to stop rebellions from ever growing to the point where it could not be stopped by any other means except full scale military mobilization."

"When I arrived in Reach, I was told why I and many others were chosen, to defend the Colonies, Earth and the UNSC with all that we were. I no longer remember my family name and only the numbers 117 was my last name. For the next eight years I was trained alongside many other young children in military tactics, strategy, weapons, history, math, science, and more as well as a demanding physical regime that pushed us to the limits of our bodies and minds and beyond them as well. We were trained to fight as a team and accomplish missions with anything we had on hand what we can do with was present with us. I was also given overall command of the other Spartans due to some key events in out training, and when we were fourteen years old, we underwent the augmentations"

"Augmentations?"

"The augmentations are a secret set of procedures and surgeries that Spartans have to undergo, I am not at liberty to tell you what they were and how the surgeries were done. But the results were worth it."

"What were the results?"

"We could carry three to four times our own body weight, have near indestructible bones, have advanced vision as well as unaided night vision, enhanced reflexes, creativity, intelligence, and memory, the ability to run at very high speeds that would not be possible by human standards, increased muscle and bone mass, increased stamina and endurance, and the ability to regenerate from injuries that would cripple normal people. But naturally the price was high, only half of us survived from the augmentations as they had risks, others survived, but were so badly disfigured that they were not fit for combat duty, the rest were killed in the process. "

The others were quiet and that was enough to allow the Spartan to finish what he was trying to say.

"After we recovered, we completed our training and took part in a mission to capture Colonel Robert Watts, a former UNSC officer who sided with the Insurrectionists, we captured him. Later we fought with the Covenant when we learned of their attack on Harvest. You know the rest so I do not need to go any further on the matter but to say that ever since then, I and my fellow Spartans as well as the forces of the UNSC fought the Covenant for the next thirty years.."

They nodded and Jaina spoke.

"So the war between the UNSC and the Covenant is truly over?"

"I don't know for sure, but I do know that it is finally finished."

"How did you endure all that?"

John said nothing and replied.

"It's the only option I have, I am a Spartan and I do not regret my life and what I have done, I did what I knew was the only way to save every sentient being in the galaxy."

Aegwynn then asked one final question.

"If you were able to return home to your world, rescued by your people of this UNSC, what do you intend to do when you go back with the war over?"

John was silent and then took the helmet of his MJOLNIR Mark VI and looked at it deeply, the question asked by Aegwynn to him had made him think deeply about his own future, if he was able to return to the UNSC, what would he do there with the war finally over? Could there be a need for him in such a world? He had no answer and he made that clear to the audience.

"I don't know…I have been trained to fight all my life, for thirty years I have been a Spartan, I don't think I can be anything else."

With that, he remained quiet, lost in his own thoughts.

For many, to finally hear of the Spartan's life, the results were varied…

…

For Aegwynn, this story was somehow similar to how she had her son Medivh all those years ago. In her arrogance and hubris after defeating the Avatar of Sargeras all those centuries ago she thought that she alone could determine who would be her successor and not the Council. She seduced the Stormwind conjurer Nielas Aran to have a child with her who she would pass down her powers as Guardian to. She succeeded and had her son Medivh, once she gave birth to her son, she let Nielas raise him to allow him to learn his powers eventually, she also imparted into him all the knowledge of the Council when he reached full maturity. But the power proved too much for him and he was in a coma for twenty years as Nielas died. When he awakened he said that he was in good health and in full control of his powers.

However she felt something was wrong, and when she saw her son willingly making pacts with the Burning Legion and aiding the now corrupted Orc clans to invade Azeroth, she realized too late that her victory over Sargeras was false. She attempted to reason with her son and have him take the Guardianship he was destined to do, but to her horror he refused, they fought on another, but her efforts failed having given him almost all of her power to him. It was there that her son, under the grip of her supposedly defeated enemy Sargeras did she learn the truth.

The battle she had with the Avatar of the Dark Titan was a distraction, allowing the spirit of the foul being to enter her and when she conceived him. The power of the evil Titan had somehow corrupted her son in her own womb. Medivh, perhaps managing to regain some of his own self didn't kill her and let her leave with her life.

She told King Llane everything she could and watched as her son was struck down and killed by Lothar, and the fall of Azeroth, the deaths of so many innocents, the falloff Blackhand and Gul'dan and her last testament was praise to the Alliance before exiling herself to Mulgore. She then decided to at least atone for some of her actions by saving all of her magic as she could and brining her now freed son back to life to help the Alliance and the Horde fight the Burning Legion.

She thought of finally having peace until Jaina came to her life and here she was. This story had an impact on her as she looked at the young man before her. She had done what she thought was right in defying the Council of Trisfal, but she now knew that while her intentions were understandable, her arrogance and belief in herself had caused so much death and horror.

This Dr. Catherine's methods were reprehensible in their own fashion but without her actions, who knew what the fate of humanity was in the world he left behind. Without him and his fellow Spartans, the Covenant would have won and wiped out humanity completely in their blindness to the lies of their leaders. And when she looked at the Spartan as he gazed at his own face through the golden face plate of his helmet, she felt something stir in her heart for him.

Sympathy…

He had never chosen the life of a Spartan, but he proved to be the greatest hero of his people, he gave everything to defend his people even if he could never be truly among them because of what he had become. She could tell that he could never live a normal life at all, the only place he could ever feel he belonged was in the battle field. And that was a fate that made her sad, for a life like that would be harsh and brief, all it took was one mistake and it was over.

…

The same could be said for Jaina as she felt sympathy for the Spartan as well, however it was different in a sense for her. She recalled her duty as the daughter of Daelin Proudmoore and as such a member of nobility and as a mage during her time. She had been given a lot of responsibility as a young girl and she never shied away from her duties as a mage and as ruler of Theramore. She recalled how she had struggled to become as famous as Guardian Aegwynn when she became apprentice mage to Arch Mage Antonidas who was the leader of the Kirin Tor.

She recalled how hard it was to lead the survivors of the Alliance when the Burning Legion and the Scourge and how she had to deal with working alongside Thrall when they first met since she still heard the horror stories of the Horde's attacks on her homeland from her father. She also remembered how they all stood with Tyrande, Malfurion and the Night Elves in the battle of Mount Hyjal and what the result was after all that.

The Spartan on the other hand, was born in a normal family, he would have lived a normal life, be with friends, family, grow up to be anything he could have wanted, found a good woman to marry, had children, anything. But he was shown to be different and was taken from that life, replaced with a copy that would die and make him appear as he had never existed, and molded into the perfect soldier, a defender of his people, and in this case, the greatest hero of his world.

But in exchange, he lost every chance to live a normal life, he could never find peace in peace, he could never feel at home in a tranquil place, he could never find a new life with people. Because he was molded into the perfect soldier when he was young and could no longer recall anything of his past life and could no longer find comfort in living as a regular person.

He became a hero to his people, yet he could never ever live with them ever again…and that made her feel an even greater level of sympathy for the Spartan.

…

For Kaelyn she couldn't help but look at the Spartan with sympathy along with respect. He was a warrior and had done everything to defend his people just like she did as a Sentinel. But unlike her, who could be able to go home, live with friends and those she considered as her family, find a good man to marry and help her people by having children, he could not. That made her feel not just sympathy for the Spartan, but a desire to try and help ease his pain in any way he could.

She had been able to see the emotions there not in his face or his expressions, but in his eyes, she saw memories of a past life, faint and nearly lost, but still there. She also saw happiness however brief, pain and loss that seemed to last forever, sorrow and grief that flowed through him, and finally confusion and ill ease, not doubt due to the question asked by the chamberlain of Jaina Proudmoore.

The desire to do something to help the Spartan hit her hard and she tried her best to make sense of her sudden thoughts towards the man as he continued to gaze at his own reflection from his own helmet's face plate.

She looked at was surprised to see the same thoughts in the face of her friend Sandra and that surprised her considerably. Sandra was not as conservative as she was as she found men from the human race to be attractive in their own fashion. The way Sandra looked at the Spartan sent a shiver of emotion into the Sentinel Commander that seemed odd, until she realized that it was jealousy.

(What? Why should I be jealous of Sandra if she is looking at the Spartan like that?)

…

For Jarrod, he was amazed at this tale and his respect for the Spartan grew, this human was not the same as anyone he had ever met in his life, and that was something that he would not forget. To give up everything to save your people was a great honor, but to never be able to live with them even after all that was a pain that was difficult to imagine in his own mind.

It was then that the Spartan placed aside his helmet and spoke seriously, his face calm and focused once more.

"Regardless of how I feel about my situation, I am a Spartan and I have accepted this life and nothing can change that."

Aegwynn looked and so did the others, seeing the resolution in his face and the former Guardian nodded as she spoke.

"Then we will question you no more, come, you wish to see what information you can gain from us do you not?"

The Spartan nodded at that and Aegwynn smiled as she looked at Jaina.

"Then I believe Lady Jaina and I can assist you."

…

In the library…

The Spartan began to look through the books and scrolls while still not wearing his MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet which he had left on a nearby table in the library. At the moment the Spartan was pouring through the books but this time he was not alone in reading the books as Jaina and Aegwynn were nearby to help him in translating the books. Apart from human books and scrolls, there were a number of books and scrolls written in the various languages of the Alliance that Jaina and those who followed her to Kalimdor years before. Among the books and scrolls were those written by the Dwarves of Ironforge, a number of books from the Gnomes before they were trapped in fighting for their capital city before the Exodus, there were books written in the language of the High Elves as well.

The former Guardian and Jaina were busy in helping the Master Chief decipher the information and since Cortana could easily access the information that John would have stored in his mind once he was done reading the books and scrolls there, he didn't have to worry too much about not allowing her to see. Jaina herself was impressed at how studious the man was as he looked at the books intently and when he stopped he spoke to either her or Aegwynn on some things such as language differences and both of them were willing to help out.

It took a long time but after the Spartan had poured over all the data he could find, he moved to the table where his helmet was and he then reached out to his helmet, and placed it back on, hiding his face once more from the two, As they left the library, Jaina then spoke to the Spartan.

"Spartan?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever decide to return here to gain more news from the Alliance on the other continent, then do not hesitate to come to Theramore Isle."

The Spartan nodded as he got his weapons and he was soon joined by all three of his Night Elf companions and they all headed back to the Albatross. As the ship began to leave, the freed slaves from before trooped out and waved goodbye to the ship as it slowly began to lift off and after it was high enough, it made it's way out of the area of Theramore.

Jaina looked at the departing ship with Aegwynn as the two mages looked out at the ship and then the young woman spoke to her long time mentor.

"What did you think of him?'

"He's an interesting one, that much is certain to me, but I feel something, and it tells me that sooner or later, he will make his mark in our world soon enough."

…

In the Albatross cock-pit…

John was currently flying the ship back to the Dawn and had placed the data chip that held Cortana's data matrix into the Albatross's data network as she appeared near him through a holo-tank. The A.I seemed to be a bit silent but that lasted for a moment as she looked at her long time protector and spoke to him with a serious expression on her face.

"You all right John?"

The Spartan replied to that particular question as he looked at Cortana.

"Just deep in thought, that question that the chamberlain, if she is one, asked me had me thinking. Even if we ever somehow get rescued by the UNSC and go home, I have to wonder just what am I going to do once I get back. You know that I am not going to like being paraded around like a celebrity if I was found alive. And what am I going to do if there's nothing left form me? Retire? I can't even begin to imagine retiring from what I been doing for thirty years."

Cortana smiled sadly as she understood her Spartan's words easily, she knew him well, better than anyone here in this world and as such, she replied.

"I don't think that you're life as a Spartan is over John, there is going to be a lot of things happening back there in the UNSC no doubt. There's going to be a lot of relocation of displaced people and refugees, peace keeping missions, aid work, not to mention quelling uprisings, dealing with pirate forces, and of course the remains of the Loyalists. Keep in mind that those Brutes and their allies are still out there and no doubt will still be causing the UNSC trouble every chance they get."

"I suppose."

"Let's just trust the UNSC to hold the fort and fight back, and having the Separatists on our side will certainly help us a good deal. For now we need to focus on the here and now. First we gather all that we can on every race and faction here, and survive. We do that, then we can get down to the serious stuff. One step at a time John, remember we take one step at a time like this, no sense doing the whole jump feet first into this situation."

The Spartan chuckled at that and Cortana smiled as he could tell that she had managed to buoy her protector's spirits somewhat. However that was when she picked up some commotion over the Dustwallow Marsh and she quickly began to focus the scanners on the situation that had gotten her attention and she quickly informed John of what she was sensing.

"John, I'm picking up some very serious activity on the surface below us."

"What is it?"

"Hold up, I am picking up bio-signatures that seem to match the ones I got with that Ogre we fought with before, only this time, there seem to be four of them and they seem to be chasing something or someone. I am checking another signature that appears to be equal to a human sized being."

The Spartan didn't like the sound of that and quickly made his decision and got his gear together as he called the Night Elves to get ready for a possible battle.

…

In the Dustwallow Marsh…

"Damn it….just what I do not need right now."

Erin focused all of her energy in trying to evade the Ogres that were following her, it had been a serious strike of bad luck for her when she had managed to evade a number of Alliance forces as well as a number of the predators that called this Marsh home, and when she thought that she was finally going to get away from any other threat so she could relax, she found herself facing a number of Ogres who apparently had been hunting for food.

The very second they saw her, the Ogres began to purse her and she was quick to try and escape as best she could, she was not in the mood to find herself in the clutches of the brutes as she had heard her fair share of horror stories concerning these brutes during the Second War when they were part of the Horde's forces. She managed to turn and face the Ogres just to find out what the bloody heck were they doing rampaging through the Marsh after her.

"What the heck are you four brutes doing following me of all people? Haven't you already filled your bellies with whatever creature you have managed to eat?"

The leading Ogre laughed in a very leering fashion at the Blood Elf Rogue and spoke out.

"Pretty blonde long ears look rather nice….maybe we not damage you too badly and make you a pet eh?"

The minute she heard that come from the one eyed giant before her, Erin felt a wave of revulsion run through her very core, she had been old enough to recall the horror stories about how many of her brethren, both male and female who were not killed in battle with these creatures. The men were beaten so badly that they were sometimes begging for death as they were used as punching bags for younger Ogres or were just used for such back breaking labor in Ogre camps until they died of exhaustion or starvation. And her female kin suffered an even more humiliating and demeaning fate as literal playthings for the amusement of the brutes to do with as they wished and then thrown aside like garbage, unable to bear the shame of what they had been used for as they committed suicide.

Those stories made her all the more angered as she reached for an acid potion to throw into that leering ogre's face as she shouted.

"In your foolish and disgusting dreams you one eyed brute!"

The Rogue quickly tossed the acid at the Ogre and it exploded in a cloud of mist that made the Ogre roar in great pain, however, while her actions had given her some room, it had also made the three other Ogres angry as they attacked her with their massive war clubs, the Rogue knew that she had to move quickly or else their weapons, while primitive, would be the death of her if they hit her hard. She grabbed some of her throwing knives and fired them at one of the Ogres and forced it back from her

However her troubles were far from over as the Ogres began to charge through the undergrowth, smashing through several smaller trees and leaping over rocks to get to her and capture here, she could smell the melted flesh in the air, plus the violent roars that indicated that the Ogre she had hit with the acid bomb was after her, and she could tell from the roars that the creature was very angry with her.

She moved as quickly as she could, she knew that Ogres were not exactly intelligent and were slower than most, but she had seen and heard how powerful they could be and how deadly they could become when they were roused and fully focused on something or someone. She moved as quickly as she could, however, that was when another Ogre appeared out of nowhere, and she stopped just in time to leap away to the side as it's weapon, a club like the others came hard and fast on where she had been before.

She looked to see at least five Ogres around her and when she looked to find herself being slowly surrounded by them and then the fifth revealed a number of wild Raptors that were next to the Ogre, apparently from the way those Raptors looked, they were being controlled through magic by the new Ogre that was a Mage of some sort or a Beast Handler. There were at least a half dozen and that was bad news to her.

(It's eleven against one….five are Ogres, and a half dozen Raptors….curse my luck!)

Erin had no idea what to do in a situation like this, she had fought with many enemies before, she was no stranger to fighting, having earned how to fight as a Sorceress and as a Rogue. And she had no problem with odds that much, but these kinds of odds were not in her favor, there was little doubt that she could not escape this situation with stealth, as the Raptors' keen senses could find her well enough. She looked at the Ogres and the one she had hit with the acid bomb, and it turned out that he was indeed the leader of the whole bunch as he growled out orders in the Ogre tongue and the others who had surrounded her moved away.

She doubted that this leader was doing this out of mercy, and she was right as the creature shouted out to her.

"You pay dearly for these wounds you give me blonde long pointy ears! We beat you up bad and when done, you can be food for pets instead!"

The Blood Elf tensed herself as she readied her swords, if she was going to die here and fail her mission, the least she could do was die fighting than let these brutes take her for their own amusement. She readied her weapons and got prepared as the Ogres closed in.

However, that was when a roaring sound came right into the area that they were all in. The sudden rush of sound forced the Ogres to cover their ears in a moment, many of the them dropping their clubs to cover their ears. That was when one turned and roared that the Blood Elf spotted a flying sphere that suddenly flew right into the open mouth of the Ogre, she had no idea what that was, but she then saw the result.

"BOOM!"

The sound of an explosion filled the area even though it was quickly drowned away by the screaming sound, however the results of the explosion was obvious as Ogre's head was blown apart into a spray of bloody shreds and bone as well as a cloud of blood as the now decapitated creature fell dead. Erin was surprised utterly by the sudden turn of events and wondered what had happened.

She got her answer as a green and black blur suddenly came out from above the cover of the branches and then slammed hard into the head of another Ogre as the screaming sound that she heard before finally faded away. She looked to see that the Ogre that was hit was on it's back and was twitching in a way that told her that it was dead and only the body's last nerve impulses made it twitch.

(By the Sun Well….what happened?)

She got her answer as a figure appeared over the body of the slain Ogre, a figure she easily recognized.

…

John surveyed the carnage around him as he had managed to toss the Frag Grenade like a fast ball through the forest canopy with enough force as Cortana had been able to coordinate the shot while she piloted the Albatross. He had been hanging on to the ship using the magnetic parts of his MJOLNIR Mark VI's boots and when he was given the all clear by Cortana he leaped off, deactivating the magnetic soles of his boots and aimed himself downward at one of the Ogres. As soon as he was right on target, he aimed his feet at the face of the Ogre and that was more than enough to crush the face of the creature.

Ogres could handle a lot of damage, and their skulls and neck bones could handle a lot of stress, but they were not designed to handle being hit by a half ton object with it moving at high speed. The result was obvious as the ogre's head was crushed to pulp and the sound of a snapping neck was heard as the Ogre hit the ground with tremendous force. The Spartan quickly switched to using Shredder rounds instead of his the FMJ AP rounds as the Shredders would work better than the standard rounds as the Ogres apparently did not have any form of armor on them.

One Ogre tried to attack the Spartan but the Master Chief quickly leaped over the attack and landed before the Ogre, it tried to swat him aside with it's free hand, but the Master Chief quickly leaped forward, between the Ogre's legs and began to fire his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle at the back of the creature, the Shredder Rounds easily began to rip flesh apart from the Ogre roared in pain at the attacks, the Spartan was not done yet and quickly placed aside his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and took out his M90 A Shotgun and blasted two shells right into the back of the knees of the Ogre, the creature roared out in absolute pain and soon landed down and John quickly sprinted forward, leaping and landing on the back of the Ogre and unleashing a single shotgun blast right into the back of the head of the Ogre, releasing torn flesh, bone and brain matter all over the place. He looked at the Ogres and then spoke.

"Pick on someone your own size."

The lead Ogre roared at being interrupted as he focused on the Blood Elf instead, hoping that his comrades will be able to finish this green and black armed being who's face he couldn't see due to the golden face plate. He gave the orders to the other Ogres while he targeted the Blood Elf himself, his intent on badly injuring the Blood Elf.

Erin was surprised at seeing just how fast and deadly the human was as the two Ogres and the Raptors directed their attention from her to the green and black armored being that apparently had arrived to rescue her. It was then that several arrows came from the sky above and the Ogres roared in pain as well as the Raptors, she looked up to see the ship flying overhead with a side of it open to reveal the Night Elf companions of the being with the two females firing arrows while the Druid used his magic to summon wind to slow down the Raptors.

…

She however had no time to think of her being rescued as she was soon trying to dodge the attacks of the Ogre, the advantage she had was that she was faster than the lumbering creature, but she knew that what it lacked in agility, it made due with power and strength. She dodged the attacks and managed to get her swords to slash on the wrist of the Ogre's arm to force it to release it's weapon.

"RAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

The Ogre roared and that made Erin smile as she quickly moved in for the kill and managed to unleash a flurry of slashes at the Ogre, the blood flowed from the creature quickly and she then moved back and fired some throwing knives at the chest of the ogre to further wound it. However, that was when one of the Raptors turned it's attention on her and charged at high speed at her, ramming into her hard and she coughed out from the impact.

She got ready to fight and managed to evade a serious bite to her shoulder and retaliated with a powerful slash to the Raptor, cutting it on the side of it's left thigh, the creature roared and attacked with it's claws. She evaded them, but she stumbled on a root from a tree and that allowed the Raptor to attack her while she was imbalanced, and she cried out as it raked it's claws on her back, spilling blood very easily.

"AAAAAAAGGGGGGGG!"

She turned and managed to finally kill the Raptor by jamming her swords into it's mouth and through it's brain. But she had no time to react as the Ogre attacked once more. She bit back the pain and quickly evaded the attack and then as the Ogre charged at her, she managed to do the same more that the Spartan did and slashed the back of the legs of the creature, hamstringing the creature.

It turned and she evaded it's weapon and climbed up it's arm as it fell down due to the wounds on it's legs and then jammed both swords into it's only eye. The creature screamed in pain and Erin smiled and moved away, to see just how her rescuer was doing and she didn't have to look long as the Spartan had finished off the Ogres and two of the Raptors with remarkable ease. However, her action was a mistake as the Ogre attacked with it's dying breath with it's arms, the left missed, but the right smashed hard into her legs, and while the Ogre was already dying, it's strength was still very much there as Erin cried out in pain as she felt the bones in her thighs and in her left lower leg break from the blow.

But that was not enough as one of the surviving Raptors charged at her and slashed her leg, further adding more pain to her as she fell down bleeding once more. She turned and to her horror, the Raptor that attacked her opened it's maw and quickly targeted her right arm.

"NNNOOOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Erin cried out in absolute pain as the Raptor that had just wounded her began to tear into her right arm with it's maw of teeth, the very second she felt those teeth rip into her arm, the pain shot through her like a wave and sent all of her senses to shock. She could feel the teeth ripping through her flesh and nerves, the leather armor she had on proved to be little defense as the powerful jaws of the Raptor bit hard and it began to shake her around like a chew toy.

It only lasted for a few minutes, but to the Blood Elf it felt like forever as the Raptor began to toss her about until it finally let her go, as she hit the ground, the injuries to her legs were hit and the waves of pain that hit her made her scream even more in utter agony as her legs were still broken after that Ogre's attack with it's massive arm that managed to hit her legs when she tried to leap away.

She turned on her back and turned to see the Raptors close in on her but before they could attack, she saw the Spartan charge right through them, bowling over the Raptors and scattering them, she looked at the armored human she had ogled earlier in Theramore only hours before as he was armed with his Assault Rifle and one of the Raptors tried to attack the Spartan but it was hit as the Spartan charged into it with amazing speed and power, smashing the butt of the gun into the head with enough force to make out a cracking sound that showed that the Raptor's neck was broken quite easily.

As she looked, the last Raptors decided to flee from the battle as they could see that they were not going to be able to win with these kinds of odds before them, Erin looked at the sky as she felt her blood warm her and the pain flowed through her body like waves as she then looked to see the Spartan before her before she finally closed her eyes.

There was only one thought there.

(I am going to die soon….shame I can't see this human's face again to thank him.)

…

The Spartan was not happy with that he was witnessing and quickly picked up the woman while placing his M90 Shotgun on his thigh, not the most comfortable of places to place such a weapons, but it was better than nothing as he placed his MA5C aside, he looked at the unknown Elf before him. Dressed in black leather armor and carrying a number of supplies, this told him that this elf was no stranger to combat and the way she dressed was that of an assassin or a spy. The Spartan knew quickly that this was no ordinary person and she certainly didn't match the High Elves he had dealt with before.

Something was odd about this one and he needed answers, with that in mind, he got the woman up and carefully placed her mangled and blood arm on his shoulder and gently ran to a much larger opening in the land and spoke to Cortana via COM system.

"Cortana, land the Albatross at the clearing, I'm coming it with a heavy casualty in critical condition."

Got it John."

As soon as that was done and the Albatross landed, John moved in and to his surprise, all three Night Elves moved back and glared at the elf he was carrying, this naturally surprised him as he had not expected that reaction. But he placed that aside and took the woman in as Cortana got the Albatross back into the sky to head for the Dawn.

…

In the Albatross...

John set down the badly mauled Elf and quickly checked her vitals, and what he was seeing was not good, the injuries were pretty severe and there was no doubt in his mind that she was going to be very close to death soon, but so far she seemed to be holding on. The Spartan knew that Cortana was now in command of the Albatross and had it on auto-pilot, setting a full course to the Dawn with all speed.

He looked at the wounds and saw that they were serious indeed, requiring serious medical attention, but the worst of the damage was to both her legs and her badly torn and mangled right arm. The arm had several parts of the flesh torn off and he could see the bone there and he could see the large amount of blood loss coming from her wound, added to that was the result of the Raptor's savage attacks which was able to rend off a good deal of her flesh, adding even more damage, along with making a sight that made his Night Elf companions gag. There was no doubt that unless the arm was treated or removed if it was not able to be saved, she was not going to survive long.

Cortana soon appeared as John was quick to use his Health Pack's supplies to begin treating the Elf's wounds. The Blood Elf managed a painful cry as the Bio-foam was applied to her other wounds but she soon began to relax as he injected her wounds with Polypsuedomorphine to dull the pain that she was feeling, He was actually happy that the Elf didn't have an allergic reaction to the drug, the last thing he wanted was to kill the Elf through an allergic reaction to UNSC Medicine. While the Spartan continued to tend to the injuries with the self adhering anti-septic battle field dressings, he was busy in quickly cataloged her injuries, as Cortana was outside of the MJOLNIR, she used the sensors in the Albatross to look over the Blood Elf for herself and soon she spoke to the Spartan.

"She's got serious injuries; at least several torn muscles in her back, left arm, and leg, both her legs have fractures as well in the bones, two in her thigh bones and a pair in the right shin bones, a massive set of claw wounds on the left side and on the back. The arm's the real issue….tissue and bone damage is extensive, that arm is going to be of little use to her even if it can be saved, nerve, tissue, and bone damage are off the scale, I'm amazed she hasn't died from the shock alone of the attack."

"I know."

The Spartan turned and looked at Jarrod and spoke seriously to the Druid.

"Can you use your magic to heal her injuries Jarrod?"

The Druid looked at the Spartan and then to the Blood Elf before him in the bed and he couldn't say anything at first and soon replied.

"I don't know, and I personally don't know if it is a good idea, she's a Blood Elf after all."

The Spartan was confused by that and made that clear as he spoke in a more serious tone.

"A what?"

Kaelyn supplied the answer but looked at the wounded Blood Elf with great disdain and mistrust.

"She's one of the Blood Elves, former High Elves who allowed their magical addiction to control them utterly, they feed on Fel magic to increase their power without thought of the consequences of their actions. They would even willingly siphon away Mana from any source that they could find and not care for the lives they destroy. They do not care for others and willingly see all other races except those they see as their own, as enemies as well as inferior to their own race. They also will willingly consort with demons just to accomplish their own ends as well. They should not be trusted for any reason; they are mad with power at times and will do anything they can to feed their addiction to any form of magical power. They are also part of the Horde form what I have heard from rumors from the humans I have met in some of my patrols with the others."

The way Kaelyn spoke this was very serious, telling both John and Cortana that there was some very serious history here that they had to learn about before making a full scale judgment to what to do with the Elf they had just rescued today. He had not expected to be dealing with a being from a member race of the Horde so early, let alone with a possibly separate elf race. However, his concern for the moment was to save the life of this person as he spoke to Cortana.

"Cortana? Any ideas?"

"We can heal most of the injuries and we have enough supplies for the work, but we're going to have to Flash Clone a brand new arm, the original arm's too badly damaged to save. Normally I would ask to get a blood and tissue sample so I can work on the DNA to make the procedure work, but I think that getting a blood and tissue sample is not going to be much of an issue. If we're lucky, might be able to save her and bring her back to full health, let's just hope that we're not too late in doing those said procedures. She's lucky that the medical facility on the Dawn can handle the work in Flash Cloning."

The Spartan nodded in agreement with Cortana as they flew back to the Dawn at all possible speed. As soon as they got closer to the Dawn, he made a quick all for a Medical Dolly to take the badly wounded Blood Elf to the Dawn's Medical Bay and get her prepped for surgery and medical treatment, he had planned to work on setting up a much more defensible perimeter for the Dawn, but that had to wait until he saved the life of this new Elf.

As soon as the Blood Elf was in the Dawn, the Spartan turned around to talk with Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod about how they were going to deal with the new guest, he had no doubt that the very second that the other Night Elves found out about the presence of a Blood Elf in the Dawn, things were going to get rather dicey. It took a good deal of talking but he finally managed to convince Kaelyn and the other Night Elves to keep their issues with the Blood Elf under wraps for the time being until he got the whole story to make a much needed decision on what to do with the new guest.

…

The Dawn's Medical Bay…

As soon as that was over, the Spartan went to the Medical Bay to help Cortana do the work, he was no master in medical procedures, but Mendez taught them a lot to ensure that they would be able to survive anything and everything that the battle field could throw at them. It was going to be a lot of work as the Blood Elf was placed in a respirator while the Bio-foam managed to contain the organs and the Bone Knitting Polymer they began to apply worked to set broken bones once more to their original place to allow them to heal properly. Once that was done, the real hard work began.

It was going to be a while as it would take a at least a full day before the new Flash Cloned arm was ready for reattaching. That would take a full day and when that was over, they were going to let her recover. It was at the point then the arm was half formed that Jarrod decided to go to Darnassus to report to Tyrande about the meeting in Theramore as well as the unexpected rescue of the Blood Elf.

Once the arm was completed, now the hard stuff was going to happen.

…

In the realm of dreams four days later…

Erin moved about slowly, she was currently gripped in a nightmare about the encounter with the Ogres and their wild pets before. The nightmare filled the Blood Elf with fear and anger, she had never felt this much fear before. Even during all the battles she had taken part in during her life as member of the Alliance, this dream was very real, she tried to escape in the dream finding to her horror that her tools, weapons and even her magic was no longer with her, she was completely defenseless, she tried to evade the Ogres and their pets as best she could, but they were still there.

She tried to reach the ship in her dream, she could smell the slat air and knew that it was close, but the swamp seemed to go on forever, every tree she ever passed seemed to only reveal even more of the trees before her and the sea seemed to go away from her. She continued to keep running and running away, but she felt her body become even heavier and heavier, until to her absolute shock, the floor of the swamp suddenly broke away and a massive wall of stone blocked her escape.

She turned to only find that she was surrounded by more walls of stone and the only way through was through the Ogres and their raptor pets and this time her rescuer was nowhere in sight. Erin could only watch as the Ogres came ever closer to her, reaching out to grab her…it was not long before she finally screamed out as the Ogres finally grabbed her arm hard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

…

In the Medical Bay…

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Erin moved upward and looked about in absolute fear as she expected the moment she opened her eyes, she was going to see it happen for real. However, to her surprise, she found herself in a room that appeared to be made from metal, no wood, no stone, nothing that she knew at all. It took a moment or two before she finally decided to calm her racing heart to figure out just where she was at the moment. The last thing she remembered after seeing the armored being fight the Ogres and the Raptors with the aid of the Night Elves was looking at the ruined mess that was once her right arm and then looking up at the sky through the canopy while lying in a pool of her own blood in a haze of unbearable pain, as she then looked to see the Spartan before her before she finally closed her eyes.

And now she was awake in a place that seemed totally foreign to her, she was finally able to look down and saw that she was lying down on a bed in what appeared to be a white colored set of clothes, including a short sleeved shirt that while tight was amazingly comfortable, almost like she was wearing silk, the same could be said for her pants. The bed was surprisingly comfortable as well to her as she had never lain on something like this before in her life. But what really got her attention was the fact that her right arm was still there and without a single shred of the damage she had seen before.

(What? Impossible! My arm is…whole?)

The Blood Elf Rogue looked at her arm with absolute shock and amazement in her face as she reached out with her left hand to touch her arm. Her eyes were trying to process the fact that her right arm had NONE of the damage that she had seen before she had passed out. Not a single scar, no lost flesh, nothing. As soon as she touched her arm with her left hand, she probed and massaged her arm; she could feel the bones, flesh, skin, and the warmth, there was no way this was some illusion, her arm was actually whole. She then tried to move her fingers and found them to be very responsive, all four of them moved the way they were supposed to move and the same could be said for her right thumb as well.

She then moved her arm around and found that everything moved and acted the way it would normally would, this was…she couldn't find the words to describe it, she felt no use of magic at all on her body, any spell usually left some trace on an object or being that they were used on, yet she felt nothing.

(What in the name of the Sun Well is going on here?)

It was then that a door opened and in walked someone who appeared to be a Night Elf Sentinel, dressed in her people's usual garb and in her hands was some sort of tray that seemed to have some food and a glass that had drink in it. The Night Elf placed the tray on a table. And as soon as that was done, the Night Elf looked at Erin and there was no doubt that the Night Elf did not like her presence as she spoke.

"You're awake I see."

Erin looked at the Night elf and recognized her to be the one who was with the green and black armored human she had seen before and that was enough to tell her that she had been rescued by the armored human. She decided to reply back to the way the Night Elf spoke to her with a smug smile, she might not know where she was, but she was not going to back down from anything or anyone.

"You sound disappointed."

Kaelyn looked at the Blood Elf and replied seriously to her smug look.

"I am, I can't understand why the Spartan saved your life, considering what your people are known to do. But he saved your life so you should be grateful to him."

Erin was no fool and she had seen the way the Sentinel had looked at the human who she now knew as a Spartan when he was bare of his helmet. There was a good deal of attraction in the way the Night Elf Sentinel had looked at the man when he revealed his face to the people there in the building. She could tell that the Night Elf had an interest for the Spartan and she could see why considering how the man looked, she decided to try and ruffle the Night Elf's feathers.

"I see, so he saved my life did he? Then I should thank him then, can you tell me where I can find him so I can thank him in person."

Kaelyn's eyes narrowed at the way the Blood Elf spoke and she spoke quickly.

"What are you saying?"

"I said I was going to thank him, and since he happens to be a handsome man, I know just WHAT to do to reward him."

Kaelyn gasped and replied.

"You… You will not! Don't you dare touch him you magic addicted witch!"

Erin grinned at that as she could see the look of fury in the Night Elf's face. She began to enjoy needling this woman just to see how she would react when it concerned this Spartan.

"Why? Don't tell you have an interest in him?"

Kaelyn blushed at that as she did have an interest directed towards the Spartan despite the fact that she was still trying to figure out just what her feelings were concerning the Spartan. However she was not going to give the female Blood Elf the satisfaction of succeeding in making her angry.

"That is not your concern."

"Oh, so I take it that means you've not interested in him then? So why are you trying to stop me from thanking him? I wonder what he looks like without that armor of his? He must be VERY well built don't you think so? I would love to see him out of that armor and do…"

Kaelyn growled at that and replied to that with force in her voice.

"You are not going to do anything to the Spartan while I'm around Blood Elf, he might have saved your life, but I have no doubt in my mind that thanking him is not going to be enough for you. You want to do whatever it is you can get him to help you and side with you, and I will not let that happen!"

Erin was enjoying the moment and smiled back with a very smug smile on her face. This only served to make the Night Elf even more annoyed as the Blood Elf replied.

"Really now, then why don't we find out just what he thinks about that?"

"What did you say?"

…

Unknown to the two elf women…

Cortana couldn't help but smirk as she watched the exchange between the Blood Elf and the Night Elf with the Spartan standing next to her and viewing the holo-tank. They had been busy with running through the setup of their defensive systems for the walls that they had already finished, they had decided to check in on the Blood Elf and had arrived at the very moment that Kaelyn and the Blood Elf were now facing one another and it was not long before the two were able to figure out just what or who was the reason for the escalating trading of words between the two women.

They had managed to get the Flash Cloning system working and had successfully grown a replacement arm for the Blood Elf after performing a critical surgery to remove the arm that had been mangled beyond repair. They also performed the full surgery to attach the new limb and that was the hard part as John had to learn quickly on advanced medical surgery. Thankfully the augmentation that had increased his ability to learn quickly as well as have increased creativity and intelligence allowed him to learn quickly when the situation called for it.

It had taken a good deal of effort to create the Flash Cloned right arm for the Blood Elf due to the fact that her DNA patterns was very different from that of the High Elves, so they had to do some tweaking in the process itself. The reason was due to the changes that they found in the DNA, there were a number of similarities to the High Elf DNA that they already had on file. But there were differences; for one thing the DNA had traces of Fel energy that seemed to be similar to the powers used by the Warlocks they had encountered weeks before when they first came to this world.

The other differences was that they had a much paler complexion than High Elves, they also had glowing green eyes that were supposed to be signs of Fel energy consumption, their hair also was in a paler shade of color. There was also the fact that their skin pigmentation in certain areas were forming tattoos, similar to the markings that were seen in the skin of the Night Elves. This told the Spartan and the UNSC A.I that consumption of the Fel Energy or any energy can change the DNA of living beings. That was why they had to be very careful in making the Flash Cloned arm for the Blood Elf as they had to make sure that the DNA patterns in the new arm matched the old DNA patterns.

Flash Cloning was not too hard as long as they were only cloning organs and limbs, and since the organs and limbs in question happened to be genetically identical to the patient's body cells in every way, there was little risk of rejection by the body once the organ or limb was attached. Naturally cloning a full human was very much considered illegal in UNSC space which was why it was never done at all by anyone else except sanctioned members of ONI or licensed medical groups.

As soon as the surgery was done, they went to work in reattaching the bones and nerves, it took a lot of time and cost them a good deal of resources and effort, but it was worth it in the Spartan's mind as this other elf might give him more information on the other races that inhabited this world he and Cortana landed in, and from what he and she could see at the moment, this person was not part of the Alliance. Jarrod had left at least a day after they came back to report the surgery was successful and the Druid explained that he had to report to Tyrande but not before telling the Spartan that his people and the Blood Elves were enemies and no doubt her presence would start an argument if any of his kin were to speak to the woman on anything that would serve to anger both sides.

They weren't expecting that the soon to grow argument was over him of all people.

Cortana then turned to the Master Chief and spoke to him.

"My, you're pretty popular with the ladies right about now."

The Spartan rolled his eyes and looked at Cortana without his helmet on and replied.

"You sound like you're enjoying it, a bit too much if you ask me."

Cortana turned and smiled at that as she replied.

"I do actually, I recall the time when we were back on Reach testing the MJOLNIR Mark V, when I was asked to check out the best Spartan who I would be partnered with, I read your files after all, you know me."

John smiled a bit at the memories that Cortana had just brought up. It had been quite some time since he first met and worked with Cortana.

"I do, you do your research."

"True, you had everything we needed in a Spartan and a leader, but I saw something in you that no one else in the Spartans had, that was luck, and trust me your luck is beyond amazing. But I never told you what I thought of you when I first saw your picture did I?"

The Spartan shook his head at that, his curiosity raised by this unexpected trip down memory lane as it were.

"Really?"

"Yep, I told Dr. Halsey….my mother, that you were attractive, in a primitive animal sort of way. And it seems that I was right, if anyone in the UNSC saw these two ladies arguing over you, they'd probably laugh to the point that they would pass out."

The Spartan snorted at that and shook his head.

"I rather doubt that."

Cortana smiled at that and teased her long time friend and protector once more.

"Really, think this through first John. Technically speaking, both those women who at the moment are trying to barb each other to death with words happen to be aliens. Though in this case, considering how they look and how they dress, these female would be the kind any single or even married male in the UNSC worth his salary would do anything to have friendly relations with, and I'm not referring to diplomatic relations either. The fact that they are arguing over you in particular is rather surprising, considering the fact that you've only taken off your helmet twice in front of the people of this world. The fact that both alien females are verbally fighting over you who happens to be a Spartan II is rather unprecedented in the history of the UNSC and the Spartan II Program to say the very least, I can bet Johnson….would have loved to see this."

John sighed a bit as he thought of his deceased friend and couldn't help but smile a bit more at that.

"He might have, but I'm not in the market for a girlfriend Cortana, human or otherwise, besides, I think you might not approve of it."

Cortana smiled a bit gently at that.

"I might not approve a bit, but not that much and certainly not in the way most would think. I trust you John, more than anyone with the exception of Dr. Halsey so I know you can make your own decisions well, you are a full grown man John and despite what you might say, you have to admit that most men would have been rather jealous of the situation you are in at the moment, and you are a human being after all."

John remained silent at that for a moment or two, but then took his helmet and placed it back on with the sounds of the seals locking up and as soon as that was done, the Spartan turned to look at his long time companion and friend as he spoke.

"Keep in mind Cortana, I happen to be Spartan II Commando, I'm not a regular male human to begin with and I don't have an ego to cultivate. Just because women happen to find me attractive for some reason without the helmet doesn't mean that I have to like it."

Cortana grinned at that and replied.

"Maybe, maybe not, but there's nothing wrong with you enjoying it now is there?"

"Cortana, you're not helping."

The A.I grinned but then spoke to him.

""Sorry, couldn't resist that one, anyway, you might want to hurry up over there John, from the sound of things, those two are not far from going to the point that they are more than ready to trade blows with one another."

…

In the Medical Bay…

And sure enough, Cortana was right as the two women in the room were about ready to attack one another. Kaelyn was angry as she had no intention of letting the Blood Elf have her way with the Spartan and do Elune only knows what to the human. Erin was getting very annoyed with how the Night Elf female before her would threaten her to leave the Spartan alone though she was enjoying this a lot.

It was not long however that the doors to the Medical Bay opened in walked the object of their argument with one another. They turned to see the Spartan looking at them seriously. And to their hidden disappointment, the Spartan had his helmet on. But they were soon focused on him when he spoke with obvious authority.

"What is going on here?"

Both Kaelyn and Erin glared at one another and the Sentinel spoke first.

"I do not see why you would allow this Blood Elf here….you can't trust them for even a second."

The Blood Elf then replied.

"Oh really? And how many Blood Elves have you ever met before?"

"Apart from you? None and for that I am grateful!"

"That is enough you two."

That statement from the Spartan was more than enough to stop both of them and the Spartan sighed a bit to himself as he knew that this was not what he was used to. However, this was the only time he could at least figure something out about this Blood Elf, even though he had heard of them from his Night Elf companions, he wanted to hear the rest of the story from the other side so he could be sure. With that in mind, he spoke to Kaelyn.

"I need to speak to her alone for the time being Kaelyn; I'll speak you at a later time."

Kaelyn was not happy and she could see due to the reflective nature of the golden face plate of the Spartan's helmet that the Blood Elf was smiling with wicked and triumphant intent.

"But what if she does something to you? I can't just…"

"I understand your concern Kaelyn, but trust me on this; I need to speak to her at this time and alone."

The Night Elf Sentinel could see that the Spartan was dead set on this and she nodded slowly and moved away but not before giving Erin a very angry glare. The Blood Elf merely smiled back at her and she left the room.

…

As soon as the door closed, Erin knew that she now had the chance to speak to her rescuer without any interference from the Night Elf Amazon. She then looked at the Spartan who was still looking at her intently and she wondered what was going on in his mind as his face was hidden away, she waited and then he spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

Erin was a bit surprised by that but quickly guessed that he was referring to her condition and she replied with a smile as she sat up on a bed in a slightly alluring position.

"I am fine, though I still have to admit that I am….amazed by the fact that I still have my arm with me, how did this happen?"

"It's a bit hard to explain, but suffice to say we used your blood to create a new limb for you and since it's your own flesh and bone so to speak, that arm of yours is very much your own."

Erin was quite surprised by this as she looked at her arm while moving it again to see once more if it was indeed hers, and when she was done and was assured that it was indeed her arm, she looked at her savior and spoke once more with gratitude and a hint of seduction in her voice.

"I am in your debt, but, what sort of magic did you use to do this?"

The Spartan shook his head at that.

"There was no magic involved in giving you your new arm."

Erin gasped at that.

"You mean to tell me, that you used no magic at all, only technology to do this?"

At the nod of the Spartan, the Blood Elf was quite stunned. Her people had no interest in technology as a whole though they did use some to make their lives easier. However such devices were few and not well taken care of as her people prefer the use of magic and so they never fully embraced technology like the humans did, nor did they have any love for dwarvish, gnomish, and goblin technology, preferring to trust only magic. Seeing the power of the weapons this Spartan carried in battle was shocking and interesting in itself. But to learn that this being had the technology to create limbs and possibly organs without the aid of magic and only through technology had completely surprised her.

Who knew what she could make with such power in her hands, or what could her people be able to do with such devices and wonders in their hands?

She then decided to worry about that at a later time and she spoke.

"I don't know what to say to that, but I have to thank you for saving me. I have some money in my bags if they have been brought here, but if they are not…I'm sure I can find…OTHER ways to show my gratitude to you Spartan."

The Blood Elf moved her legs off the bed and sat on the bed while crossing her legs and leaning forward, showing her cleavage to the Spartan.

John had to admit that he had not expected that from a woman he had just met. After all, when he thought about it, this was actually the first time any woman had done this in front of a Spartan, let alone a woman who by genetic definition and appearance could be easily seen as an alien. This never happened to anyone he knew, least of all him.

There was also the fact that Kaelyn wore an outfit that by most definitions would have really gotten the attention of most men right off the bat even if she did happen to have a bow and a good number of arrows. However, he was more concerned with other matters that demanded his attention. It was not that he was entirely immune to the charms and appearance of women, but it was because of his years as a soldier which naturally had hardened him a good deal so he was not that affected since he was more concerned for the mission. Not to mention the fact that one of the augmentations done to him as a Spartan II had given him a suppressed sexual drive. It was not gone by any means, it just took a lot longer for him to get aroused the way a normal human male would if he was in the same situation as he was right now.

He then got his focus and replied.

"There are some matters we need to discus first, one such thing is introductions, who are you?"

The Blood Elf decided to be fair and replied.

"My name is Erin, Erin Firestar, and you are?"

"You can call me as a Spartan, Spartan-117 to be more precise. Now with that out of the way, there is one thing I think you can do for me, and that is to give me information about what race you happen to belong to."

Erin replied to that as she had not expected that this Spartan wanted information., but she decided to play with the Spartan for now.

"You want to know about my people? Aren't you from the Alliance?"

The Spartan shook his head and that made Erin even more interested as she looked at the Spartan, she had to admit that his armor was not made by the Alliance in any fashion, the spies in the Alliance from the Horde had made no mention of any such weapons or Armor that was used by the Alliance. If that was the case, then this being and all the technology was not from around here.

"So, I take it you're not from around here?"

"You could say that."

"Then why don't you join my people? With your technology and our growing power base in all of Azeroth, things can really change, even if you are a human, I can convince my people to take you into their ranks. They will pay you well…and so will I."

The Spartan however had a point to put across and spoke seriously to Erin.

"Don't think that I am siding with you all of a sudden, I saved your life but that doesn't mean that I am going to trust you or your people immediately just yet, I've heard quite a good deal of things about your race from my Night Elf companions and a good number of those stories are far from what I consider comforting. However…"

"However?"

"I am not going to judge you and your race until I know for sure that I get the full side of the story from your end. So until your body fully recovers from the surgery, which should take a day or more, and you are fit to move without an complications, you are to remain here in the ship. Keep in mind that you happen to be in Night Elf territory and no doubt in my mind, considering how they view your race, they will kill you where you stand in a heartbeat. So you are going to be my guest."

Erin's eyes glittered at that a bit as she looked at the Spartan carefully while moving a bit more to position herself in a more submissive manner while using a more seductive and submissive voice.

"I can be MORE than your guest if you want, I do owe you my life after all and I doubt no amount of treasure can amount to my life."

The Spartan then sighed a bit and replied.

"Let me repeat that. You are a guest, and I am not planning to have you be anything else at the moment, and that is not the kind of reward that I have that big an interest in. I want to know exactly what is the history of your race and your people's reasons for siding with the Horde and doing what you do, and since you're the first Blood Elf I have met, you will have to do for now. Now I am going to give you some rules while here in the Dawn, follow them and we'll have no problems, don't follow them, and things get nasty."

The Blood Elf Rogue could tell that this armored being was dead serious and decided that it would be in her best interests to follow what he was going to say. Besides, even though she was a Blood Elf, she did have some level of personal honor and morality, which was the reason she was not taking the path of the felsworn nor did she give into the magical addiction and used what she could fend off her magical addiction.

Besides that, she owed this human her life, she still recalled the nightmare she had when she had been attacked by the Ogres and their pets and how he had saved her in a hail of bullets and explosions. He had saved her life willingly despite the fact that the Night Elves were no doubt trying to find out why he spared her life.

This told her that this human was reasonable and willing to listen, something that she had admit was actually very refreshing to learn of, considering the fact that many humans still fear and distrust their kind. Besides, the last thing she wanted was to end up like those Ogres that he had defeated along with their pets with amazing and somewhat terrifying ease with his weapons.

"All right, what are they?"

The Spartan looked at her carefully to see if she was indeed willing to listen to what he had to say. Seeing that she was willing to listen, at least for now, he decided to get things squared away now before she would be allowed to leave to do what she liked.

"First off, I am the owner of this place and as such, there are locations in the Dawn that are strictly off limits, I have eyes in every corner of this ship and if I catch you trying to get into places that you're not supposed to, you are in trouble with me."

"What about your Night Elf companions? Are they under the same rules or am I the only one?"

"They know that I am watching and they respect the fact that this is my place as well, so they follow the rules in their own fashion, adding to the fact that their leader has agreed to allow me to stay in the lands they call home. Second, whatever issues you have with the Night Elves who are here, keep them to yourself and do not antagonize them for any reason. If you have a complaint that can be supported then I will hear it out, do not however use that as an excuse to make things difficult here. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good, third and last rule, do not steal anything here on the ship, I will make sure to check your person for any items that happen to not belong to you or your people. That means that if it is needed and you don't return items you might have taken, I'll have no other choice but to take anything you have in your bags to find the items in question and if needed I will do a strip search. If I find any of said missing items on you, then you are in trouble. In simple terms, keep your hands to yourself so we can avoid any misunderstandings. Do you have any questions?"

The Blood Elf thought over the rules and while there were only three, they seemed fairly reasonable, another indication that this man before her was very much an open minded person something that she had not thought was possible considering all the things that has happened to the Alliance. Besides, she had was rather curious about her savior and she was still thinking of a good way to thank him for saving her life.

"I have no questions."

The Spartan remained silent for a few moments and then he spoke to her.

"All right, well then, you have some time to rest and recover from your surgery so I suggest that you rest for as long as you can, I will come here to check up on you're progress once in a while and when you are fully recovered, then you can move about the ship. Keep my rules in mind and we won't have problems. One more thing before I leave you to have your breakfast."

Erin looked at the Spartan, curious as to what was it that he wanted to say to her as she looked at him marveling the somewhat elegant yet undeniably deadly and intimidating way the armor he wore looked up close. It lacked any of the designs of the armor of her people and those who were of the ranks of the Spell Breakers, but there was power there, not of the magical kind for sure, but something that was just as deadly. While her memories of the battle days before had been hazed by her pain, she had seen the Spartan moved with a fluidity and grace that was unlike any human was capable of. And before she could stop herself, she wondered if he was that flexible outside of the armor. And that was more than enough to make the Blood Elf smile in a very predatory fashion in her own mind as she looked at the Spartan.

"I'm not taking off this armor for anyone, so don't bother asking what I look like out of it. All you need to know is that I am human and not part of the Alliance."

Erin raised an eyebrow at that as the Spartan left the room, she looked at the food that was there before her and she decided to take a bite, to her surprise, the food was actually very nice and she had no eaten for a while now so she didn't hesitate to eat as much as she could take in. All the while she thought about what the Spartan said to her and she smiled a bit more.

She had to admit that he was interesting, he saved her life and while she understood that he needed information about her race in question, she had to admire the fact that if he was willing to save her of all people, that was more than enough to prove to her that he was not the same as the members of the Alliance who had left her people to fend for themselves. Her people might have lost a lot of things, including their sense of trust towards others, but she still recalled it and as such was a bit of an anomaly among them. This human had earned a part of it for saving her life where most people of the Alliance could care less if she died or not, and that made her very interested in him.

Besides that, she was still very interested in seeing what the Spartan looked like when he was stripped of his Armor. She had ever intention to see just what he was like underneath the armor and maybe she could do more to make herself a very important part of his time here. Besides, it would certainly be worth doing to make the Sentinel very angry as well as jealous, and considering that the Spartan was not so easily tempted even by her charms, she knew she was in for a challenge with him and that made this all the more interesting.

(Just wait Spartan….I'll get you out of that Armor of yours sooner or later.)

…

As John reached the Hanger to get some time off and do some maintenance work on some of the machines to pass the time, he was soon greeted by the arrival of the members of the Night Elves, some of them greeted him though others were still out on how to approach him at all. They all however asked why was it that he allowed a Blood Elf to take residence in his home, he told them that he had very good reasons for his actions and it would be revealed in due time. He made sure to remind them that she is under his watch and no harm should come to her, he made it clear however that if anything happened where she had been the only instigator, then they were to tell him directly and not make a large issue out of it since he would deal with it himself.

They were not entirely convinced, that much was for certain but they decided to leave the matter to him as he was the one who would deal with it himself. As he got to work it was then that Jarrod arrived and the expression on the Night Elf's face was more than enough to tell the Spartan that something had happened back there in Darnassus. Jarrod walked quickly to him and spoke to him just as Kaelyn and Sandra along with White Claw appeared.

"Chief, we have a rather serious problem."

The Spartan quickly put down the tools he had just as Cortana appeared near a holo-tank and he spoke to the Druid.

"What is it?'

"I had reported back to Lady Tyrande of your meeting with Jaina Proudmoore as well as your rescue of the Blood Elf, not everyone was happy with what they heard but Tyrande placed that aside for the time being. However she told me that a number of Alliance diplomats have been combing for you. They seem interested in locating you and getting as much information as they can."

Cortana didn't like the sound of that and she spoke.

"How did it happen Jarrod?"

The Druid sighed a bit and gave an apologetic look to both the Master Chief and Cortana as he replied.

"Apparently a member of the 7th Legion had spotted you when you first came to Darnassus, one who had been here on a personal mission and had been returning to the Human capital of Stormwind. The soldier in question spotted you and no doubt reported your existence to his superiors in the Alliance."

John sighed a bit mentally, he had a feeling that this situation might not end very well but kept that aside for the moment as he decided to find out just what was Tyrande's choice of action on the matter.

"What did High Priestess Tyrande do?"

"She has managed to placate the ambassadors for the time being, many of the ambassadors have expressed great interest in meeting you in person for themselves but she put a stop to that. However, I have no doubt that sooner or later you will have to make an appearance to the ambassadors as they will not be placated for long, as far as I know, they will be there until the end of the next three weeks."

Cortana looked at the Spartan to figure out what he intended to do with this information and she as well as the others didn't have to wait for too long as the Spartan made his decision.

"We might as well get this over with, Cortana, how long before we can take that Blood Elf, Erin Firestar with us?"

The A.I replied to that after a brief moment.

"She'll be fine in two days tops, granted she doesn't injure herself for some reason or another. If you're planning to bring her with us then you have to make sure that you know what you're going to do is really going to get us in trouble Chief. They very second they find out that you have a Blood Elf with us, is really going to make the Night Elves go ballistic, judging from what I've seen. "

John know that to be true, after all, he had more than ample evidence to prove that when he had seen how the Night Elves who were with him reacted with the presence of a Blood Elf in the ship. He had no doubt the very second Erin set foot in Darnassus, every Night Elf would think he was out of his mind to bring her there.

However, he couldn't very well leave the Blood Elf in his own ship either, as much as he doubted that she could figure her way into the more secure areas of the ship as well as the data centers and the armories, he was not going to take any chances either, he was not going to let her take anything from the ship. let alone allow her to find even a single shred of information that could very well grab this world completely by the balls. He'd never forgive himself if that happened.

"I know, but the fact that she is in the very heart of her race's enemies will keep her behaved, besides, I can't leave her here in the Dawn either. I'll be keeping an eye on her personally so she's not going to get much of a chance to cause a ruckus there in Darnassus."

Seeing that the Spartan was not going to budge on the matter, the other Night Elves decided that they should trust the Spartan's judgment on the whole thing. Besides, after seeing him in combat already, the Night Elves had no doubt in their minds that he was more than able to take good care of the Blood Elf just in case she did something that was going to cause trouble for them in their capital city. However, not all of them were in full agreement.

Kaelyn had every intention to keep a watchful eye on the Blood Elf as she still recalled the words spoken by the woman in her plans to thank the Spartan. She was not going to let that female Blood Elf twist the Spartan around her finger! She'd put an arrow in her heart first before she would ever let that happen.

Sandra herself had heard from Kaelyn what the Blood Elf had told her and she herself was determined not to let the Blood Elf get the Spartan for herself, though she had to admit that she was also going to be going against her friend as well. She was not going to let the Spartan out of her sight either in this case, besides, it's been a while since she had something or someone get her interest.

Cortana could see the emotions on the faces of both Kaelyn and Sandra and she couldn't help but smile a bit more. She was going to have a lot of entertainment from all this. As for John, he shook his head a bit and decided to do some things to clear his mind, as he knew that he was in for the real long haul now.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this chapter and I hope that it is enough for all of you readers of this fanfic. As you have read so far, John seems to be doing all right though how he will be able to handle being placed before the ambassadors of the Alliance who are waiting for him in Darnassus. Also you can bet that the dealing with the Blood Elf and the sudden tension between Erin, Kaelyn, and Sandra will be a test of his ability to deal with multiple people.

Also there is the question on how Jaina will think of John after hearing his story and learning just what was his reason for landing on this world. Will Jaina develop an attraction to the Spartan? We shall see in the soon to come chapters, and it seems Aegwynn has developed a sense of sympathy to the Spartan so we shall see what else can happen.

How will Erin's perception of the Master Chief change now that she knows that he saved her life? That will also be an interesting factor that will have potential once we get to the par of the Burning Crusade Arc of this story. I also have some very interesting ideas to try out in this story until I reach the 10th chapter before I take a break from it all.

Anyway, I would like to mention that I will be taking a personal break from story writing on June 21, if you are wondering why, it's simply because I recall the events that happened on that day when Typhoon Frank hit my home town and made it into a hell of a mess. If you readers are wondering what am I talking about, Drop by Naruto Dragon Champion and find the Notice and Apology section of the story so you can guess what happened to my home town.

With that out of the way, I will assure you that I will be updating as best I can my other stories and hopefully keep them from being considered abandoned stories. I am a very busy guy and I do have a life beyond the writing of stories so I hope you can understand my need to take a break every now and then.

See you on the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or World of Warcraft so stop asking me if I do

Chapter 6

Diplomacy

( ): Thoughts

…

In a Pelican…

The Spartan was piloting the Pelican and at the moment he was accompanied with the three Night Elves and the lone Blood Elf, it was a rather tense trip but so far the four have not gone to blows at the matter but he could see that Kaelyn and Sandra were glaring at Erin. So far Jarrod had not given the Blood Elf the whole glare but he could tell that the Druid intended to keep a close eye on the woman.

As for Erin, she seemed to be actually quite eager to look at the Pelican's interior with her eyes, she had spent two days recovering in the Medical Bay and it seemed that she was fully recovered. Once that was done she was given her clothing and armor back which had been kept and repaired as best as possible, her weapons were there however at the moment they were stored in a crate that was in the Pelican and that crate was on lock down to keep them from being used in the wrong time.

Erin didn't complain as she was still trying to absorb the fact that she was inside a flying machine that was not made by any race of the Alliance or any race of the Horde. She would also routinely look at the Spartan give a smile at her savior and then give the two Night Elf females a smirk that further infuriated the two, though she cut that a bit since even though she enjoyed antagonizing the Night Elves she knew that overdoing it was inviting trouble for her. For now, this was going to be a very interesting day as this was the first time she was going to enter the home of the Night Elves.

She was born many years after the Exodus of those of her people from the lands and the founding of their home of Quel'Thalas and had only heard stories about their former kin, the Night Elves, however she had a dislike for them due to the stories that were told to her by others of her people. For now however she focused on more serious matters. When she was told by the Spartan that she was coming with him to the capital of the Night Elves, she was not quite happy but she was a girl who looked on the more positive sides of things, this would allow her to get an idea of the layout of the capital city and see who were the key players on the city, along with getting an idea of the various ambassadors of the Alliance who were no doubt there to speak about the presence of the Spartan.

It was not long before they finally arrived in the vicinity of the World Tree, home of the Night Elf capital, as soon as they were in range of the city, the Spartan was quick to guide the ship in for landing as he knew that landing in the city was not advisable. Once the Pelican landed, he moved out first and took stock of the area and was soon greeted by a number of the Night Elf guards. They greeted him and the others but they quickly glared at the Blood Elf and the leader, the same Night Elf captain who he knew was Freya, who he had met before spoke to the Spartan.

"Are you sure you want that woman here Spartan?"

"You know who she is?"

"Yes, Lady Tyrande mentioned that you would have a Blood Elf in your group who would be a guest. However I still do not trust her or any of her kind."

The Spartan could tell that Freya was dead serious about this and he decided to tell her what he had in mind concerning Erin.

"She will be under my watch for the time being, and I will make sure that she will not cause trouble here and she has no weapons and those are under lock and key."

Freya looked back and could see that the woman was indeed unarmed, but her spiritual senses were still warning her that this woman was going to be trouble for her and her people and as such deserved to be watched. Thankfully the Spartan was more than able to handle that part due to his abilities and skills so she would not need to watch the woman too closely. She then directed her attention back to the Spartan and the others as she spoke.

"All right, I won't post any guards with you to keep an eye on her; I only hope that there will not be any trouble here with her in our capital city. AT any rate, it would be wise that she keep herself at her best behavior, if she keeps that in mind, then she won't be harmed."

"Understood."

Freya and her companions moved aside for now and went back to their duties as well as informing the people in Rut'theran Village not to attack the Blood Elf on sight. The Spartan then turned to Erin while carrying his trademark MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as a M7S SMG. He knew that going into the Temple armed like this was a bad idea and he was in a diplomatic situation but he was not going to just go into a place unarmed easily unless given the acceptable order to leave weapons alone.

"You stay close and try not to do anything here in the city that will get you in danger, do you understand me?"

Erin smiled at that and replied as she stood up and got out of the Pelican.

"I understand quite clearly Spartan."

"Good."

As the group moved out to enter the Portal to walk into the city, it became obvious that the arrival of Erin was not going to be unnoticed by anyone. Several Night Elf children pointed at the female Blood Elf and were then taken away by their parents, several shop owners looked sourly at the woman and the guards in the village tensed and readied themselves just in case she tried anything. That was enough to make Erin mentally laugh to herself as she decided to show that she was under the Spartan protection.

And she did so by moving closer to the Spartan, much to the chagrin of the two Night Elves behind her who were not happy with her actions in any possible way and she knew it as she gave both women a smile. Kaelyn and Sandra were not happy with this and it took a lot of their own self discipline not to attack the woman for her actions. They soon arrived at the portal where Freya and her guards were, the Captain decided that since the Spartan already had a very good idea on where the Temple of Elune was, he would have no need of an escort and told him so as well.

The Spartan nodded and soon they were in the city of Darnassus. The Spartan looked about briefly and activated the translation program that Cortana had now completed to translate the native language of the Night Elves to make sure that he was aware of anything that they might try to hide from him that would prove to be very useful in the later time frame.

As soon as the program was activated, he was quick to hear just what the night Elves were saying in their native tongue. And the words were naturally directed at the Blood Elf and none of them were not that flattering, the majority of them. He place that aside and moved towards the Temple and as soon as he got there, he was able to spot Tyrande and the rest of the ambassadors with the use of his MJOLNIR's built in binocular systems. He was quick to recognize the human ambassador due to his finery, and after seeing the Dwarf and Gnome, he could tell with their finery, they were no doubt ambassadors of their people. He had already seen a number of Dwarves and Gnomes in Theramore so he now knew just who they were and what race they were.

The one race he didn't recognize was the woman with the pale violet skin, the glowing eyes, the odd horn like growths on her head, dark blue hair, and from what he could see, four fleshy tendrils that seemed to be coming from the sides of her head, and to his surprise, the woman's feet were not human, but hooves. She wore a low top dress with deep blue fabric with purple sections along with silver clasps there as well. He had never met any being like this before and that naturally made him curious what sort of species this was.

Cortana was very much in the same frame of mind as her Spartan as John spoke.

"Now there's something you don't see every day."

"I agree, what sort of species is she? Maybe we should ask Kaelyn and the others, since they happen to live here, they would be able to know."

That course of action was what the Spartan did as he spoke to Kaelyn.

"There's a woman there that I don't recognize. She has horns near her head, tendrils, as well as hooves on her feet, do you know who she is and what race she is."

Kaelyn quickly recognized the description and replied.

"That would be Emissary Valustraa, she is the ambassador of the newly arrived Draenei race, they have a capital city of their own located in Azuremyst Isle, we know that they worship the Holy Light of creation and Opponents of anything and anyone that is tied to evil and are very capable in using magic, even arcane magic as well as divine magic. They do not use any form of magic that is based on Fel Magic though that is still going to be put to the test. We know little about them so far as we have only started making diplomatic ties with them. We do know that they are led by the one they call Prophet Velen and a number of other leaders that form their commanding council, along with several others as well."

"What else can you tell me about the Draenei?"

Kaelyn thought it over and tried to recall any bit of information that she had on the newly aligned Alliance race, but shook her head and spoke.

"I'm afraid that is all I know for the time being, though I have heard some rumors every now and then but I can't be sure if it's hearsay or not for the time being, anyway, we should get going, I have no doubt that with the ambassadors of the Alliance here already, things are going to get very hectic."

The Spartan nodded and the group headed towards the Temple, he had expected the guards there to halt him, have him remove his weapons, and also question him about the presence of the Blood Elf in their ranks. To his surprise and even Cortana's the guards allowed him to enter and then nodded for him to take the Blood Elf with him into the Temple of all places. He naturally asked why they were letting him do such things and the lead guard replied.

"High Priestess Tyrande stated that she trusts you enough to let you carry your weapons into the Temple as long as you do not use them on our people. As for the Blood Elf who is with you, she is under your watch so Tyrande trusts you that you will be able to keep her from doing things that would cause trouble for us."

Cortana whistled at that and spoke to John while keeping their conversation hidden away by shutting down the outer speaker systems.

"It seems that Tyrande's really showing a good deal of trust in you John, I guess doing that is a good thing, even more so since she's even allowing us to take Erin into their place of worship of all things."

"I know, I wonder if there is a hidden motive there somewhere with what she is allowing?"

"Maybe, but I doubt that for the time being, Tyrande is dedicated in protecting her people, there is no denying that fact, and since we have helped her people and not harmed them I guess she is more trusting of us. So let's try to be at our best behavior and make sure that we keep Erin from doing something rash."

"Right, but I get the feeling that Fandral Staghelm, when he finds out about this is going to really lose his temper."

"On that I agree, come on big guy, time to face the music."

With that ended, the Spartan thanked the guards and soon walked in with Kaelyn, Sandra, Jarrod, and Erin. As soon as he did so, the Ambassadors from the other members of the Alliance were quick to look at his direction and that was something that quickly annoyed the Spartan as he was not in the mood to be the center of attention. However he kept himself focused on the task at hand and walked over to Tyrande and bowed down to greet her.

"It is good to see you again High Priestess Tyrande."

Tyrande nodded at that and smiled as the Spartan moved away, the High Priestess then directed her attention to the female Blood Elf who was there with the group and she spoke to her sternly to Erin.

"It's been some time since I have met a Blood Elf apart from your Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider."

That surprised Erin as she had not heard that her people's leader and the leader of the Night Elves had met before as this was never mentioned by anyone back in Silvermoon City.

"You met our Prince?"

"Yes, it was during our pursuit of Illidan when he escaped from us that I and Maiev Shadowsong came to Lordaeron, it was there that we met your Prince as he was escorting vital supplies for the Alliance forces when you're people, the Blood Elves were still part of the Alliance. He was a good person who did what he felt was needed to protect his people and he was quite respectful even if it was the first time he met Night Elves. And it was he who helped stop Illidan's attempt to use the Eye of Sargeras to break the world to kill the Lich King long ago. And he also gave information to Malfurion that aided in my rescue when I was separated from the others."

"That is why I allowed you to set foot here in Darnassus as a token of respect for what your leader did for me, but that token of respect will only go so far. You are under the watchful eye of the Spartan himself and that is yet another reason why you are allowed to walk here in my people's capital. Do not do anything to harm my people and you will not be harmed by my people and by the Spartan as well, do we understand each other?"

Erin could tell that the High Priestess was serious about that statement and nodded as she replied to the question give to her by the Night Elf leader.

"I understand what you are saying."

Tyrande looked at Erin seriously to see if she was serious about her words and when she was assured that she did agree with the terms, she nodded.

"Good, now then, Chief, I am sorry to have called you from what plans you may have been hoping to accomplish but as Jarrod has no doubt told you, the ambassadors of the Alliance have found out about your existence and have been asking to meet you. I admit that I had hoped to have more time in order to make this less of a mess to deal with, are you sure that you are all right with this unexpected meeting?"

The Spartan nodded at Tyrande's question and gave his answer to her question.

"I am willing to deal with this meeting but I am going to make my stance clear, I will NOT side with either the Alliance or the Horde. I will not be bought, or intimidated by anyone nor will I agree to trading any technology I posses. I will listen to what the ambassadors have to say and I will answer questions, but there are some answers that I will not answer for any reason. Now then, who is going first?"

Naturally it was the ambassador of the Human Kingdom of Stormwind that spoke first. And his question was but the first in a LONG list of questions that was soon to follow the Spartan as the other ambassadors were soon taking their own turn in asking him questions that were no doubt going to really test him and Cortana's patience

…

Hours later…

"Finally that's over and done with…"

John stepped out of the Temple and groaned a bit as he looked at the city of Darnassus, he was soon joined by the three Night Elves and the Blood Elf who themselves showed signs that they also were tired of the long discussions that had happened in the Temple of Elune. The Spartan was slightly tired mentally as asking questions like those asked of him by the ambassadors of the Alliance. The Dwarves and the Gnomes were the most interested in his technology as they asked a huge load of questions on how the MJOLNIR worked, how his guns worked, everything, they even tried to ask him about how he had been enhanced.

He naturally refused to reveal the Augmentation Procedures that were done to him as a young child at fourteen by the scientists in the Spartan II Program. The Program and his brothers and sisters might have been revealed to boost morale in the UNSC when things got really bad, but that certainly didn't mean that information was to be turned into common knowledge. Not only that, he was not in the mood to have the information be littered in this world, he had no idea just how far their medical technology had gone, but with that he's seen so far, he was not going to take any chances on the whole thing. They had access to some very interesting materials and had created a number of inventions that he and Cortana needed to keep an eye on, and that was enough to make him be a bit more cautions in his actions when it concerned technology.

The reactions of the Ambassadors at the fact that he came from another branch of humanity that had no use of magic and favored technology, and had been able to go beyond their home world and colonize over eight hundred worlds was more than enough to make a number of jaws drop. Even Erin Firestar was completely stunned at the revelation that the technology wielded by her savior was but a fraction of what his people had achieved in their existence.

After he had explained the history of the UNSC without revealing any vital information that was too sensitive to reveal, he was soon besieged by questions from the Dwarf, Gnome, Draenei and Human Ambassadors, though he and Cortana noted that the Draenei Ambassador seemed to be more gentle and less intrusive in her questions towards him. He wondered why that was the case and decided to save that for a better time.

The other three Ambassadors were more than willing to ask whatever they could and the most prominent was if he would ever consider coming to their lands in order to see the rest of the world. It was natural that the Human Ambassador would try to convince the Spartan to come to Stormwind City and help his fellow humans, however, John was not going to just do that, the people of Stormwind were human like him, but he was not going to just join them right out of the blue.

For one thing, he kept in mind that he still needed to run a DNA scan on the human race here in this world to see if they were indeed human beings. There was no telling just how different they were to the humans in the UNSC. Added to that was the fact that he was neutral on matters concerning this world and all of the beings in it, and he was not in the mood to be shanghaied into any possible plot or another. He was certainly not going to be a catalyst for war though he kept his options open on any matters that would prove to be critical in the days to come.

He made that abundantly clear to the human ambassador and it had been a rather interesting time as the two traded words with one another. It had been a source of annoyance for him but he was able to weather to storm and make it out of that mess. He also decided to run some DNA tests on the other races of the Alliance as well as that of his Night Elf companions. This way he would have a much clearer picture of what he was dealing with.

Kaelyn nodded as she herself never had much patience for politics and she could tell that the Spartan was not happy with the way things turned out as he had spent many hours talking with the Ambassadors though the Draenei Ambassador seemed to be at least very much respectful in asking her questions. The Dwarf and Gnome ambassadors had expressed exceptionally high interest in accessing any information about his people's technology and even asked about his Armor. Naturally the Spartan gave only the description and some brief details, and spoke nothing else, that didn't sit well with the Dwarf and Gnome ambassadors as they were eager to get their hands on such technology.

After all that happened, Tyrande had requested that the Ambassadors ceased their questions and allow her to speak. She then announced that the Spartan was not to be bothered at all by the other members of the Alliance and as such his neutrality was to be respected and upheld. She also mentioned that he was a guest of the Night Elves in their lands and was allowed to remain there as such, she naturally didn't mention the exact location of the Dawn as she now knew that it was near Horde held borderlands and any attempt by the Alliance races from beyond Kalimdor to come there would no doubt be seen by the Horde's intelligence networks and could be misinterpreted as a hostile action, even more so considering the fact that a number of beings in the Horde held on to be belief that they should wage war with the Alliance, one particular Orc who was high in rank among the Horde had such beliefs and all he needed was something to capitalize on even if he was stopped by the Horde Warchief. All she said was that his location was only known to the Night Elves and as such would only be revealed if the Spartan willingly allowed that secret to be revealed. Naturally the Spartan kept that location to himself and that didn't suit well with the others.

They voiced their complaints though Emissary Valustraa didn't speak out at all, something that was a bit odd in the mind of the Spartan and his A.I companion and they kept that in record for now. This new race known as the Draenei very much unknown to the Spartan and if there was one thing he didn't feel at ease with, was an unknown potential ally or foe. Even so, he had to remember that neutrality was by far his best option as he was still alone on this world with no backup and support, relying only on what he had in the Dawn for the time being. As soon as the shouting and debate was over, the Ambassadors left the Temple and that allowed the Spartan to relax a bit.

Which was why he and the others were outside right now, Kaelyn then decided that it would be best that they got to the Inn and got something to eat for themselves as it was already past the time for a lunch by her people's standards and she could bet that the other patrols of her fellow Sentinels would be coming home soon after all they had been doing.

"We should get some food to eat for now, it's been a long day after all."

John nodded at that and replied.

"That's a good idea, we'd better hurry up before more trouble comes our way."

Cortana however quickly spoke out to him and the others.

"Trouble's already found us; guess who's coming our way like a berserk Brute?"

The Spartan turned and sure enough he spotted none other than Fandral Staghelm who was livid at the sight of the Spartan , or more specifically the one Blood Elf in his company. The Arch Druid was furious at the thought of one of the cursed Sin'dorei being here in Darnassus of all places and made his sentiment clear the very second he was close enough to the Spartan.

"YOU DARE TO BRING A BLOOD ELF TO DARNASSUS?"

The Arch Druid was very angry, that much was obvious to everyone in earshot of the encounter and it was a tense situation for everyone. The Spartan then spoke seriously to the Arch Druid, not in the mood for a shouting match with anyone, let alone Fandral.

"She happens to be under my watch and she had been allowed to walk here in Darnassus by High Priestess Tyrande herself."

Fandral growled at that and replied.

"A likely story Spartan, you are making a serious mistake allowing this demon worshipping wretch here in Darnassus! She deserves to be sent back to wherever she came from, and why would you even allowed her to come with you anyhow?"

Erin then replied to that standing defiant before the Arch Druid.

"Stow it off you old windbag, he saved my life in Dustwallow Marsh even when he was told by his companions who I was and what my race were, even gave me a new arm to boot! You have no right to insult him or me as well!"

Fandral turned and glared at Erin and replied.

"Silence! You have no right to speak here or to me in that manner!"

That was when a voice joined the conversation.

"She has been given my personal approval to walk in Darnassus Fandral, if you have an issue about that, take it up with me."

Tyrande appeared and seemed to be calm and serene for the moment, which only served to anger Fandral even more as he spoke seriously to Tyrande.

"You allowed this Blood Elf to walk here willingly Tyrande? That is madness, her kind cannot be trusted at all and should never be allowed to set foot in Kalimdor! They are not welcome anywhere and considering how they had willingly betrayed the Alliance, Traitors have no place anywhere, especially here in Darnassus!"

Erin had enough and shouted back.

"You ignorant fool! What do you know about my people? Have you even gotten out of that hut you call your home and met others of my kind? You Druids were supposed to be moderates and respect life yet you call me and my kind as traitors?"

Fandral was angered once more and was about to attack Erin when the Spartan quickly moved and took out the M7S SMG from his thigh armor and that stopped Fandral cold and the Spartan spoke once more.

"She is under my watch and if she does anything that is a threat to your people, then I will deal with her, High Priestess Tyrande said the same thing to her as well, this was a form of respect from her to their leader."

Fandral looked questioningly at Tyrande and she replied.

"That is true, it was through the aid of Prince Kael'thas that we were able to stop Illidan's actions with the Eye of Sargeras and it was through him that I was rescued after the battle of Pyrewood Village in the lands of Lordaeron and swept deep in the lands of the Scourge. For that reason and the fact that I owed Kael'thas for his help however brief I allowed her to walk here in this city."

Fandral was silent at this for a moment and was about to speak out until Tyrande replied.

"My decision is final Fandral, I will deal with the consequences of my decision by myself, for now know that she is allowed to walk in Darnassus under the watchful eye of the Spartan and those who are with him as his guides in our lands, is that understood?"

The Arch Druid could see that any further argument from him was going to avail him nothing so it was better that he remained silent for now. But this development only served to fuel his desire to take control of the situation concerning his people's future and guide it to the path he desired for them. For now he would be silent.

"Very well…"

Fandral turned but not before giving a sour look at the Spartan and Erin as well as Tyrande, he will deal with them all soon enough, however….he had an idea that might help a good deal, but that would take time to plan and prepare.

As he left the Spartan was getting very wary of the Arch Druid, his gut told him that the Arch Druid was up to something that was soon going to be a major problem for not just him but his own people as well. John had read the books in the Temple's library and knew that the Night Elves were still recovering from the horrendous losses they had suffered in the Third War. Anything that would bring more suffering was not needed in the times ahead, that much the Spartan knew for certain.

Cortana showed the very same sentiment as her protector and friend as she spoke.

"That Fandral is up to something, I can feel it down the very core of my program."

"That makes two of us, we might want to check any information on what the heck is he up to, I don't like what he might be planning."

This conversation was between the two and it was when it was over that John turned when Tyrande spoke to him.

"Spartan, I have a request to make, I need to speak to you in private at the Temple, I have managed to provide food as well as drink along with a chair strong enough for you sit on, this is a private conversation so I request that it will be between you and me alone. I will send word to the Inn that your companions be allowed to eat there as well as rest for now."

John thought it over and nodded as Cortana gave her approval of the talk, he turned to his companions and spoke to them.

"I'll be talking with High Priestess Tyrande for a while, once it is over, I'll pick you all up at the Inn then we can go."

Erin didn't like that but decided not to argue with her savior as her stomach growled a bit, much to her embarrassment. As they left the area and head off to the Inn to eat, she gave a glance to the Spartan as he went back into the Temple with Tyrande. That action of hers was not lost to the others as Sandra spoke seriously to the Blood Elf.

"What are looking back there for anyway Blood Elf?"

Erin turned and gave the Hunter a sour look and replied.

"I happen to have a name so use it Night Elf."

Sandra glared and replied.

"I happen to have a name as well, so use it."

"You first, besides, you asked the question."

"Fine, what are you looking back at the Temple for Erin?"

"I was just curious as to why your race's leader would want a private audience with the Spartan of all people. I can understand that your leader is in good terms with him, but still, to ask for a private conversation complete with food and drink….do you think that your leader has an attraction for the Spartan?"

That was more than enough to make the two Night Elf women look at Erin as if she had lost her mind, it was a good thing that they were able to maintain their calm and focus on the matter, however they were quick to speak with Kaelyn naturally being the very first to speak.

"How can you suggest something like that? High Priestess Tyrande and the Spartan have no such attraction to one another!"

"Really now? What makes you so sure that she does not have an interest in the Spartan anyway?"

Sandra then spoke.

"There is one being that Tyrande Whisperwind loves apart from Elune and our people and that is Arch Druid Shan'do Malfurion Stormrage."

Erin heard stories and rumors about this Malfurion and while most of her kin scoffed at the Druidic powers of the Night Elves, she preferred to see things for herself before she could judge if this Malfurion was as powerful as they said him to be.

"If that's true, then where is he anyway? If he's the Arch Druid then why are we dealing with that arrogant ass? And why is he not ruling alongside your High Priestess for that matter?"

Sandra and Kaelyn looked at one another and the silence that followed made her all the more curious as to what was going on here, she then looked at Jarrod to get some answers. But unsurprisingly, the Druid was tight lipped about the whole thing. This made her all the more curious at to what was going on here. She decided to place aside her questions and determined that now was not the right time for her to be asking questions that were no doubt sensitive as this would bring her close to danger with any of the Night Elves here in Darnassus. Besides that, she would have a chance to find out later and the information could be valuable indeed.

"All right then, if there is nothing going on between your leader and the Spartan and she does have her…heart set towards Malfurion, then why is it that the two of them are in a private discussion and why can't any of us be part of it?"

Kaelyn was not liking the direction of the question Erin asked was going and she made that very clear as she spoke to her.

"It is between them so there is really no reason as to why we have to be involved, besides that, since there is nothing between High Priestess Tyrande there is no reason for us to wonder what it is about, for all we know, they could be discussing his current status here in the lands of our people."

Erin thought about that and had to admit that the Night Elf did make sense, still she was not very much convinced that those were the only reasons that the two were talking in private, but she decided to leave it alone for the time being and find out in a better time.

…

It turned out that Kaelyn and Sandra were right for at that very moment in the Temple's second floor…

Tyrande sat down at the chair in the room and looked at the Spartan who was allowed to sit on a large block of stone that was now serving as his chair, there before them was some food and drink and as soon as they were seated, the Spartan took of his helmet and when Tyrande nodded to him that they could now eat. It was a good sign of courtesy and John was not one to refuse as he ate his food along with Tyrande.

It took a while as the two ate their food and when it was nearly over, the High Priestess spoke once more to the Spartan.

"I have to apologize once more about the meeting that you had with the Ambassadors, I should have given you more time to prepare for such a situation that was not expected for you to attend to an deal with, considering that you have far more important things that needed your full attention."

The Spartan shook his head and replied to that.

"You have no need to apologize High Priestess Tyrande, I made the decision to come here myself, besides, if I had not appeared to settle this, you would have been bogged down with them and not be able to help your people due to the need to settle things for the ambassadors. As I have my priorities so do you also."

Tyrande smiled gently at that and nodded.

"You are correct, it's been many years since the many battles I have endured so long ago, and I need to dedicate my time to helping my people weather the storms that come. I only wish that I am doing that is best for my people, I will admit that my passion…and rash nature can become dangerous at times, but I do what I feel is right for my people's survival and if my life is the price I must pay, then I will do so willingly."

John nodded as he recalled an old passage he read in his studies.

"There is a saying from a famous person in the UNSC's past who can surmise what you have done in your years High Priestess Tyrande. He said 'The General who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, who's only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign is the Jewel of the Kingdom.' That will apply to you as well, considering what I have read about your actions in the past."

Tyrande thought about that and spoke.

"Who said that and what does that passage he spoke of mean?"

"The one who spoke it was a man who was named Sun Tzu, a famous military commander and tactician who won many successful battles for his kingdom. He was said to have once in legend was tasked to train the king's harem of 180 concubines as soldiers as a test of his skills and expertise in the art of war. He chose the king's favorites to lead the two companies and gave them orders. The first time the women didn't respond and giggled instead, he pointed out as general, it was duty to make sure that the orders were given clearly and followed. He gave the command from before again and yet the woman giggled at him. He then ordered the two officers to be killed. The king naturally protested and he spoke to everyone there."

"He said that if the general's soldiers heard the order but did not follow the orders, then it is the fault of the officers. He then stated that once a general is appointed, it was the general's duty to carry out the mission even if the king protested, after the two women were killed, new officers were placed in and the two companies did their orders flawlessly."

"As for the passage I said and how it is related to you, it is simple. You do what you have to defend your people, not to be recognized and not do gain fame, but to do what is right and is important to ensure the survival of your people. There is no desire for glory or power in your actions, only purpose and with a clear mission in mind. That is why I do not see anything wrong with your actions as they have been done with only one goal, and that is to defend your land and your people. If you have to retreat, you do it to ensure that your people will have a better chance to survive and fight another day. That in itself is also good as you do not throw away the lives of your soldiers without care. That is why you in my personal point of view are a worthy leader of your people, and I can bet that Sun Tzu might agree on that if he was still alive today."

The Night Elf smiled at that and spoke.

"This Sun Tzu you speak of sounds like a good man in his own right."

John nodded at that.

"He is, when I was still a Spartan in training, I and my fellow Spartans studied him as well. His works survive all the way to now and is still used by not just military leaders but businessmen and politicians. His works known as the Art of War is useful beyond the battle-field. If you wish, I can have a copy of his work made for you."

Tyrande smiled and replied.

"I suppose I am interested in that, I only hope that asking for a copy does not take away any of your precious time."

"It won't once it is done and written in your language, I can have Jarrod send you over a copy as well as an explanation of the passages there. There are other books I can give you once translated into your language, but I believe that it should be done at a more proper time, I must head back to the Dawn and begin work on setting up it's defenses."

Tyrande nodded at that and spoke.

"Before you go Spartan, I have to speak about another important matter. I have been told by Jarrod about your story and I must say I am surprised by it, as well as respectful of it as well. I have to admit that I had some doubts in allowing you to remain in my people's lands, I was even willing to fight you myself if you became a danger to my people. But after knowing your story, I stayed my hand and thought it over carefully and decided that it would be better than I treat you will more respect and less hostility. You are indeed a worthy person to have done much for your people."

The Spartan nodded at that as he placed down his helmet, after it was locked into place, he spoke to Tyrande with respect to her.

"I thank you for your concern and understanding High Priestess, and I have no anger towards what you have said, you are doing what you feel is right for your people and I can respect that easily."

"Thank you for your understanding, and I think it will be best that I allow you to return to your ship, no doubt you and your companions have much to do in the time to come. However, I suggest that you be on your guard, though it is over, there is no doubt in my mind that the leaders of the Alliance will want to try and seek you out. I only hope that their actions to enlist your aid for their people's needs don't become overzealous, and hopefully the Horde would not mistake Alliance activity as an action that could lead to war."

The Spartan nodded at that and replied.

"I understand, I will do what I can to avoid that situation though I have no doubt it will not be that easy."

Tyrande nodded at that and bid the Spartan farewell. Soon the Spartan was able to meet up with the others and soon make his way back to the Dawn. With that meeting done, he needed to get back to the Dawn and begin fortifying the location just in case things got very difficult. He noted that a number of the Night Elves as well as the other residents from the other races who were part of the Alliance were more than happy to see Erin leave.

He placed that aside for now and when the time was available, he would start asking questions to Erin to find out more of the Blood Elves though in this case, it was on their side of the fence and not that of the Alliance. This way he would be more aware of what was happening behind the scenes in this world that would concern the major factions as well as others in this world as well.

…

A month later…

The efforts in increasing the defenses of the Dawn had taken nearly a month of hard work and sweat but it was certainly worth the effort as the Dawn now had a defensive ability that would have really been a hard nut to crack by any standard, even by that of the Covenant. There was a network of defenses that were going to be MORE than enough to convince any attacker that being here was a bad idea.

The Dawn had a huge supply cache after all and this was quick to be used by John and Cortana as they had worked through most of the month to set up the base's defenses and when it was over, there was little doubt in the Spartan's mind that anyone trying to attack this place was going to go through hell

In the bunkers that were at the bottom of the walls and in the corners was a group of heavy weapon systems which were the a pair of mounted AIE-486H Heavy Machine Guns that were on the sides, allowing them to unleash a hail of bullets in an overlapping 180 degree window in the bunker. This was sure to make any attacking force think twice in attacking the Dawn en masse. Next was a mounted Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle or a Spartan Laser that was connected to the Dawn's active Deuterium Fusion Reactors as well as the new active Hydrogen reactor that was built to serve as a supplement power source to be used. This would make attacking the walls of the Dawn with large groups of infantry and heavy cavalry a seriously bad idea as well as engaging any heavy vehicles that might be around. And next was a mounted M68 Gauss Cannon which was more than powerful enough to kill most if not all organic and inorganic targets that were spotted

All of these were wired to Cortana through the use of reinforced and hidden sensors as well as camera links that would allow Cortana to easily spot and unleash a barrage of fire power on the enemy once they were well within the kill-zone of the A.I. The same setup was also present in the walls though in this case, the Spartan and the A.I would also use a number of stored M41 Vulcan Light Anti-Aircraft Guns to support the slower turning AIE-486H Heavy Machine Guns, This was to make sure that any enemy that was in the area was going to be in for an exciting and short life. John could also use any of the weapons manually in order to target specific areas and opponents that should be given a lot more attention than most.

The Dawn itself was far from defenseless as the had been able to mount the same weapons on the Frigate and connect them to the reactors as well as to Cortana herself. The A.I was also able to create two copies of herself that could be able handle the defenses in the bunkers and the walls as well as the Dawn itself. The cut section of the Dawn now had several M41 LAAG turrets there as well as M68 Gauss Cannons to even it up. Cortana however had managed to have four of the M99 Special Application Scoped Rifles in the front and sides of the Dawn as well as another one on the top of the Dawn to give it a full 360 degree area of effect. These were designed to eliminate key targets at extreme range as well as inflict severe psychological terror in the foes that might decide to attack the Dawn. John himself could also use these manually if needed to handle other targets that were vital. There were also a number of LAU-65D/SGM-151 mounted turrets to make attacking the Dawn a seriously risky move.

This deadly defensive network was also supported with a number of PG000E Portable Electricity Generators that were hidden in reinforced areas in the compound which could be used to support the weapons if it was needed to disconnect the weapons from the Dawn's reactors and the Hydrogen Reactor.

Of course the defenses were not limited to just that as there were a number of other traps that the Spartan had on hand, these included a number of Lotus Anti-Tank Mines that were armed to work with Proximity systems and also those with altered sensitivity to counter infantry, these types of the Lotus was scattered around the area of the dawn as well as in key points that would be used as routes to the Dawn through the area that it was in. Next were a network of Ant lion Anti-Personnel Mines. All of them were activated by Cortana when they were not in the base and were then deactivated when they got into the base.

These were also supplemented with a large number of dug pits filled with a large amount of the famous Fougasse. This improvised weapon was nasty and was simple, and elegant at the very same time. It was a tube that was filled with grenades or some form of explosive propellant and came in two types.

Fire Fougasse was filled with containers of Napalm, while Shrapnel Fougasse was filled with spent shell casings or various bits of metal. Whatever variant was used, one thing was certain, anything caught in a Fougasse detonation was going to really go out with a bang as the results would shred anything several meters straight up. They were normally used against infantry and ground threats, but the Chief and his fellow Spartans had once used ten of these improvised weapons to wipe out ten Covenant Banshees that were on a strafing run on him and his brothers and sisters in Jericho VII.

That was a testament to how deadly these weapons were if they were used in a tactically sound ambush. They were set in a three layer defense all around the area near the base of the walls with a mix of the two types, and these were all rigged to go off with proximity sensors that were controlled by Cortana as well as the other mines. All of these weapons and defenses coupled with the vehicles and weapons the Chief had at his disposal made attacking the Dawn and it's valley area tantamount to suicide. The Spartan made sure to deactivate the traps when friendly forces were about and as such the Night Elf patrol that were under the command of Kaelyn, besides that, Cortana and her copies can deactivate the mines remotely if they were able to locate non hostile forces nearby to minimize the danger posed to those travelling in the area.

Of course this was not the only thing that John and Cortana had been working on…

…

Cortana looked at the item with a good deal of approval as the Spartan looked at the weapon carefully.

"Not bad John, these weapons should prove helpful in the soon to come battles."

The Spartan however wasn't entirely convinced as he spoke to the A.I.

"I don't exactly see why I have to use these Cortana, I'll admit in the right situation, these are deadly but still, I don't really see why we need to have these."

The A.I grinned and replied.

"Well for one thing John, we do need to adapt to this world and carrying guns all the time might attract attention, besides that we can't rely all the time on the Covenant Energy Swords, we have a good stock of them but we should keep them as reserve weapons as we still have no other way to recharge them. So we have to find an alternative, besides that, these things happen to be right up with the world we happen to be in. Besides that, these weapons will be more than adequate in close combat along with the Knives we have."

The Spartan sighed though he had to admit that there was a certain power and elegance as he lifted the weapons for him to look at in a more careful; fashion. The weapons were a pair of swords, or more specifically a pair of Japanese Katanas. Cortana's knowledge of human history on Earth had uncovered just how katana swords of ancient Japan were made in a more traditional fashion.

Though those weapons were only given as antiques and as prize decorations along with being a collector's item, they were quite deadly and it took years of training and years of dedication to the crafting of such weapons in the traditional style and even though swords were no longer in use for nearly two millennia on Earth or anywhere else for that matter, the knowledge had been retained.

It appeared to be just good luck that the information on how to make such swords were somehow stored in Cortana's memory core. The Spartan was not sure about this but agreed to do it and he had been aided by Kaelyn, Sandra, Jarrod, and even Erin who was curious about what the Spartan was making. The information on how to make the katana was dead on accurate and that was why the Spartan and the A.I went to work to locate the right materials for it and finding the right amount of pure iron with no impurities. As the group continued with the work it was not long before the others asked the Spartan what was it he and Cortana were making with such resources and the constructed furnace. John then explained that they were forging swords from a nation of the UNSC Home-world, these weapons were never seen in battle for many millennia but would be helpful to him.

It took a lot of time and a great deal of calculations, monitoring and manual labor from John and the machines controlled to a dancer's grace by the A.I but the end results were there, a pair of beautiful and yet deadly katanas that were made with the best alloys and the best methods available to them. The end result were a pair of deadly katanas that were made in the traditional way with 26th Century advances. The two then made a pair of specially crafted sheaths that were very unique as these were designed to keep the sword in the best state possible using UNSC technology with the ancient methods of preserving katana swords. They were also equipped with special metal bands that would easily allow the sheathed swords to be magnetically locked onto his armor.

John took the swords from their sheaths and admired them with a warrior's eye. These weapons were considered in both literature and history as the greatest swords in Earth and were remarkable achievements in the art of sword making, metallurgy, and chemistry. These had created a warrior culture known as the Samurai in Japan, elite warriors who were similar to the Spartans in some ways due to being considered the best of the best in their world. He read the history of the Samurai as well in the classes with the A.I Déjà and was able to understand to power and mystery behind these weapons.

He looked at them slowly and then placed them back in their sheaths as he spoke to Cortana.

"I get where you're driving at, but keep in mind that using swords was never in my training."

"True, but we have time to learn, besides that, even without your MJOLNIR Mark VI on, you already have strength, speed, reaction time and more to make you a very deadly warrior, and you become just like the Covenant call you when you wear the MJOLNIR and got into battle. When you combine that with these swords, you can bet that the image is rather terrifying, even if you only use one sword."

The Spartan nodded at that and then decided to show the results to his companions as he got Cortana out of the holo-tank and moved to where the others were. He walked in and saw that the three Night Elves were on one side of the room while Erin was on the other side of the room. He then called their attention and the three walked over to the Spartan with Erin quickly joining up as Sandra looked at the pair of the swords that were in the hands of the Spartan.

"What are those?"

The Spartan replied.

"The result of the work that we did here in the Dawn in making a pair of swords."

The group gathered and when he revealed the first sword, they Night Elves were surprised at the appearance of the sword before them, even Erin gave a whistle of surprise at the weapon, while it was not magical, it was an undeniably beautiful weapon that seemed to make even her swords look plain and uninteresting. Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves looked at the weapons carefully and when the Spartan showed the second sword, they were impressed by the weapon as well.

Kaelyn could see that the sword was indeed very elegant and seemed to have a beauty to it as she looked at the Spartan curiously.

"Why did you make this?"

John replied to that.

"I might need to use a regular sword since the Energy Swords I have can't be recharged, even with the best scientists and engineers in the UNSC we never got around to figuring out how to recharge a majority of the Covenant's weapons for their ground forces in combat, even the basic Covenant Plasma Pistol. We only have an understanding of the Needler and the Carbine and how to load them, but everything else still eluded the best of our scientists. Though I can bet that with the alliance between the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists, we might get there, though I still have some doubts on that matter. That is why I need to conserve the Covenant Arsenals for now so they can be used at a much later date."

Kaelyn nodded as she looked at the sword once more and Erin then spoke with a smile on her face.

"These weapons are impressive even if they are not magical, but do you have enough experience with swords Spartan?"

The Master Chief shrugged at that and spoke.

"I know enough in close combat and melee fighting, though I am no master swordsman."

That made Erin grin even more as she moved over to hold the sword by the handle, testing the sword's weight, she then also took a strip of leather and ran it over the edge, nodding approval in the sharpness of the weapon, finding it to be more than effective in a fight. She then placed the sword aside for now and spoke with a gleam in her eyes.

"Perhaps I can teach you some moves then, I happen to have a good number of skills with swords and daggers, think of it as a partial payment for saving my life."

The smile in the face of the female Blood Elf was not lost to the two Night Elf women. Both Kaelyn and Sandra were not happy with the way the Blood Elf was acting towards the Spartan and it was not long before Sandra spoke to the Spartan.

"I also happen to have a number of skills and techniques in fighting with close combat weapons, I can also help there if you want."

Kaelyn was not to be outdone as she also spoke out.

"I might not have much training with swords, but I do have skills in close combat as well."

The three women were quick to glare at one another and the Spartan quickly felt a level of discomfort and confusion, both of which were due to the fact that he was now caught in a three way cat fight with the Elf females who were with him. Cortana was enjoying this a great deal as she could sense the discomfort and confusion in her Spartan, these were not things she often found in her protector, but that certainly didn't mean she didn't find it the least bit amusing.

Jarrod then decided to try and placate the three, as he was trained as Druid and preferred that line of work more than most, he was to try and find a solution that didn't result in the group fighting one another once more. He then came up with a solution that would benefit all of the people involved as he spoke.

"Wouldn't it be better that the training be done in turns?"

The three women looked at one another and at Jarrod as his argument had some level of sense and decided to take that approach as Cortana finally made her appearance as she had requested John to put her in one of the nearby holo-tanks. As soon as that was done, the A.I spoke to the three women.

"One more thing before we do this training session ladies, try to focus on training the Chief, not each other."

Erin was surprised by this when she saw Cortana. This being before her seemed to be like a spirit or creature that was in human form but was not flesh and blood, and small as well. She gingerly tried to reach out and use the technique known as Mana Tap gently but to her surprise, the being didn't have any form of magic in her. That stopped her cold as she spoke to the A.I

"What are you?"

Cortana turned and replied.

'I am Cortana, a UNSC A.I, you never saw me but I happen to be residing in the Master Chief's Armor at the moment. Don't worry I don't bite."

Erin looked at the A.I and seeing the symbols moving over the A.I's form and wondered just what this being was, there was no magic of any kind sustaining it at all, and there was no….soul so to speak that she was aware of, yet it was moving sensing, talking and no doubt thinking like a living being. Is this another part of the UNSC's technology?

She smiled mentally as she looked at the Spartan.

(My….you never cease to amaze me Spartan, I am going to enjoy training you.)

Cortana then turned to the Chief and speak to him seriously.

"By the way Chief, I suggest we get down to repairing the MJOLNIR first thing tomorrow morning, there are some damages to the armor that need to be fixed and while the BIOS might be telling you that it works fine, there's no sense that we leave some of the systems repaired. Not to mention we need to replace some of the damaged sections of the Armor plating as soon as possible. That means that you're going to have to take it off for the repairs to start off."

John didn't like that, if there was one thing that was universal for all Spartans except the Grey Team, they disliked removing their MJOLNIR no matter what model it was. They had worn their Powered Assault Armor for so many years that it was like clothing to them and the idea of being out of them was something they had some level of dislike for. However John knew that the MJOLNIR did need some repairs as Cortana did have a point, plus sections of the Armor did need to be replaced due to the damage and while it was not major to say the least, it was better to be ready for anything than regret it later on. He however did voice his sentiment on the matter.

"You sure about that?"

Cortana was quick to pick up on that.

"I know you Spartans don't like getting out of the Armor Chief, but we do need to get some repairs done it to make sure that it's in perfect condition, remember, never take chances with anything when it concerns your equipment. Besides you need to do a visual inspection of the Armor to do that, plus if you start sparring with the three ladies over there it would be better that you do it outside of the Armor, you can of course tone down on the strength, speed and reflexes so that shouldn't be a problem."

John knew that Cortana was right and nodded.

"All right, as soon as I wake up tomorrow, I'll be taking it off."

That announcement was not lost to the three women as they began to think of waking up early as well, and the reason was not just to train with the Spartan in the use of the sword. That was not lost to Cortana and John, though the two of them had different reactions.

Cortana was smirking and John was merely rolling his eyes.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

That wraps up this chapter and I know that the diplomatic battle might not be as action packed as some would hope but I was a bit pressed for time and energy. Things had been hectic here in my home town with the soon to come opening for all the schools here. I have a chance to start working on some lecture assignments for the next few months to earn myself some cash to help out with the family expenses and bills.

Anyhow, back on topic, the diplomats are not going to be taking this lying down for long, you can bet that as soon as they report to their race's respective leaders that those leaders in question will be wanting more information about the Spartan and you can bet that they will do what they can in order to learn more.

Also the women are about to finally see the Spartan out of the Armor, and don't think that Kaelyn, Sandra, and Erin are going to be the only females John has met so far that will get a chance to take a good look at the Spartan without the MJOLNIR on. And no, the Chief won't be naked so don't ask if he will be. That's kind of jumping the gun early if I did that.

And I have managed to enter the Katana from the Halo Armor Permutations once again and these will be John's second melee weapons of Choice apart from the Covenant Energy Swords. Since there are plenty of metals in the World of Warcraft, you can bet that John will soon have a variety of katanas made from different metals, I am rather curious if I should have him use only one or carry two at the same time, imagine the sight of the Master Chief cutting down soft targets with two katanas in either hand?

I know that there ARE katanas in the World of Warcraft, but they are only used by few players and characters from what I've seen in both games and comics as well as official and fan art, but this is my story I can have a bit of leeway on the whole matter.

Plus I can always go for the Katana and Energy Sword dual wield combination after all. That should really set the bar right in there with 'What the hell am I doing'. I know that dual wielding Energy Swords is not possible in the game but it accepted in the Halo Canon so why not?

Besides, the energy Swords will also undergo some upgrades in terms of magic. How that will turn out is my little secret.

…

On the topic of the next chapter, it is going to be a three or four part series which highlights the arrival of the Master Chief into the continent of Azeroth on a more serious mission of mapping the next continent and gathering intel on the species there as well as locating more resources that can be of good use to him. Also I plan for the Spartan to give the group with him some extra protection if they ever need it, keep in mind that apart from weapons, the Dawn has a good number of Armor used by UNSC Marines and ODSTs onboard that were left behind so you can bet things will be interesting when the time comes for them to wear what the Master Chief will give them.

Also on the next chapter, Chief is soon going to run afoul with a certain organization of red mask wearing bandits with an axe to grind with Stormwind and its people, and along the way strike a friendship with a certain young prince who goes out on a personal trip to survey the land but gets waylaid by the members of said group. This will also highlight his meeting with a number of the already recognized members of the Warcraft world though he will not be joining sides with any of the factions for a while yet.

If you know who the person is, then I shouldn't bother saying who it is as well. And also the Chief will soon start building he resource base at the same time as gathering resources and materials will help him start netting a profit that will build his economic base as well. Not to mention he will be bringing along a good stock of supplies for the Dawn's food stores as well as get the lay of the land beyond Kalimdor.

Once he gets back from that trip, he will also check out the rest of Northern Kalimdor and spend some time in getting to know the lands of the Night Elves in more serious, plus help out here and there when the time comes. There will be a number of quests that should be familiar to any WOW players here so you can bet that the Chief will be rather busy on the next few chapters until we get to the 10th Chapter which will begin the Burning Crusade arc of the story. Not to mention he will be helping out a bit in Theramore Isle as well on any matters that will help improve his relationship with the land and it's people, most notably the leader of Theramore itself.

Anyway, I'll be putting out a poll to see who you think John can be paired with at a later date. This will include some new characters as well as their classes so to make the situation more interesting for John. The characters will be female to say the least and while John will have some males from the other races who join his group eventually, some of them will have partners of their own so that's not going to be an issue so don't expect anything that will imply…well, you get the picture. Along with the new to soon be developed characters will be the ones I already have made and naturally that will include some lore female characters.

When it is now working please make sure to check honestly your answers since I prefer it to be more accurate and precise than just all random stuff that will only serve to clog me up with unusable ideas all right?

See you there!

P.S

On a side note, Tyrande is NOT going to be attracted to John in any way, she does respect him and develops a friendship with the Spartan, but there is nothing romantic there or otherwise. I happen to like the pairing of Malfurion and Tyrande and I have no intention of changing that. However John will become a trusted ally in the later part of the story and will actually help in reuniting the two lovers in question.

That will naturally help increase his reputation with the Night Elves and with both Tyrande and Malfurion, who knows what will happen after that.


	8. Chapter 8

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: Again with the disclaimer….I don't own WoW or Halo, all right?

Chapter 7

Part 1

Training and Trip to Azeroth…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

John woke up early in the morning and moved a bit to loosen any stiffness in his body as he was still in his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor. As soon as he was wide awake he quickly began to run a full diagnostic test on the Armor's BIOS system and naturally found that he did need to make some repairs as soon as possible. He moved to a nearby holo-tank just as Cortana appeared in it and she smiled at him in her usual fashion.

"Morning big guy, how was the sleep?"

"All right I guess."

Cortana sighed as she looked at the Spartan and spoke.

"You know, you really don't have to wear your MJOLNIR when you go to bed, that's not really needed after all."

John shook his head at that.

"Better to be prepared, you know how my training is."

Cortana sighed and nodded, she recalled that Mendez had a way of making sure to wake up trainees back in the old days when John was still a member of the Spartan II Program and that what made him the toughest and most qualified trainer of the Spartans when they were still young. Besides that, John was quite used to waking up in the Armor so there was no sense that she could try and talk him out of it just yet.

But now they needed to get to work in getting the Armor under some much needed repairs and use some replacement parts when the time came. No sense not having the MJOLNIR Mark Vi back to full power since they had no idea when and if they were going to need it at full strength. However Cortana decided to have the repairs done outside of the Dawn and in behind the walls since it would be better this way as it would allow John to relax a bit more outside of the Armor.

"All right then, let's head out and gather the gear, and the fresh air will do you some good."

John would have argued with her about the need to do the work outside of the Dawn and in an environment but decided not to bother for now as the gear and equipment he had on hand was more than adequate to handle those needs well enough, plus using a Robotic Rover to help haul around the items were a lot more preferable than hauling it all around and consuming precious time that could be used for other work. Plus the fact that they were doing it outside eased the need to conserve power on the Dawn.

As the Spartan gathered the gear needed, Cortana was quick to run a very thorough routine scan of the area to make sure that they didn't suddenly find a whole army in their doorstep or accidentally attacked an innocent bunch of people right off the bat. That was the last thing that they wanted to do. As soon as they got everything they needed, and assembled them all just as the morning sun began to show up halfway up the tree line, John connected the larger equipment to one of the Portable Electricity Generator banks that they had with them. Once the power readings were up to it, the Spartan began to remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI piece by piece.

It was fairly easy to remove the helmet as by far, it was the easiest piece to remove, next to the Spartan was a high durability collapsible table that was fully tested to carry at least three tons worth of weight which was needed. As soon as he got the helmet down, he began to process of removing the Armor plating sections. This was more time consuming process as he had to shut down individual sections of the MJOLNIR Mark VI's outer armor plating to deactivate the magnetic clamps that held them into place on the inner bodysuit and the internal connectors that bonded armor and body-suit together as well. Once that was done, the Spartan started with the armor plating on his arms, removing each section with great care and respect.

After all, this MJOLNIR Mark VI had seen him through some very brutal action and had seem him to the very end of the UNSC-Covenant War as well as the war with the Flood. He didn't trust his life entirely to it, as he was trained to never trust his life blindly to anything back in his younger years, but he trusted it enough to do his best not to damage it. Besides, despite being quite different in overall function and design to the MJOLNIR Mark V he had before, the Mark VI still followed the same basic concept of the other MJOLNIR series of Powered Assault Armors.

As he was done with the Armor plating on his hands and forearms, the Spartan then directed his full attention to the other Armor plating pieces there on the arms. He removed the armor plating on his upper arms slowly and carefully, once those were done, he moved to the lower parts, he reached down and removed the greaves, once those were out of the way, he moved to the thigh armor plating, powering those down and removing the magnetic clasps that held them in place on his body. Once those were done, he moved to take off the groin section of the armor, thankfully that was very easy to do. And the last was naturally the chest and back armor piece, the bodysuit was the last to go.

Just like a regular suit the bodysuit had clasps to release itself and soon the Spartan smoothly and patiently removed the last article of clothing he had on as the boot armor was part of the bodysuit and didn't need to be removed at all. The Spartan was now bare of his MJOLNIR and quite the sight to begin with if any woman got a good look.

Due to the advanced medical technology and health care in the UNSC, it was not surprising that the young Spartan was in the peak of human health and fitness. Added to that was the fact that the Augmentations that John was subjected to in the Spartan II Program had accelerated his body to be at the peak of human ability and beyond that. When John had recovered form the Augmentations, he in terms of time was fourteen, but now biologically had the body on an eighteen year old Olympic Athlete. Added the many years he had been in battles and cryo-stasis, he had a body trained and toned for warfare.

There was not an inch of fat anywhere on his body, it was all pure muscle, steel hard muscle and perfectly proportioned as well to further add the look of a deadly and beautiful being. He had the combination of both body builder and gymnast, but unlike the two, his body was genetically predestined to be at that level and was soon enhanced to take it even further. He had broad shoulders, strong muscled arms, toned back, washboard stomach, well toned legs, and couple those with his handsome features, the Master Chief had everything that would make any woman turn and take notice, as well look on intently with very high levels of interest.

The only thing that was a bit shocking though that depended on the disposition of the person observing him was his pale skin. It didn't make him look entirely wrong, in fact it also added an exotic element to the Spartan as he would have passed for one of those ancient stone statues of men that the Greek sculptures were known to make. It was like the reverse of what the mythical Greek sculpture Pygmalion had done with his creation Galatea, only in his case, he was a flesh and blood human being and not a statue made of ivory and brought to life. The only article of clothing he had on him that was not part of the MJOLNIR Mark VI was a pair of grey military issue short pants that were very comfortable and form fitting as well.

In most terms he was well into his middle forties, but because of the cryo-stasis pods he had been in for the past 27 years of the UNSC-Covenant War, his actual age was early or mid twenties, making him quite young, almost a child by Elf standards, but a certainly good looking child to boot.

Cortana smirked a bit and replied as she appeared next to the Master Chief in the holo-tank that he had brought out from the Dawn.

"Nice…if any woman saw you like this, it would be a miracle if they didn't just tackle you right now."

John rolled his eyes at that and decided to focus on what he needed to do with the MJOLNIR, he needed to run all the tests that were essential, and he spoke to Cortana.

"I'll bet they would, come on, let's hurry up and get these tests done all right?"

The A.I smiled and the two of them soon got to work, though Cortana have a very correct idea that while they were going to be doing this job, they were soon going to have quite the audience as she had already detected that they had female company watching them. However he decided to let John focus on his task while she was going to help him in the work that she also knew that they needed to do.

…

The Spartan was so busy removing the Armor plating and then his bodysuit and looking at each component that he failed to notice that the three women Cortana had mentioned before were already getting quite an eye full of him while he worked on the Armor, they had been awake for a while and for their own reasons, as soon as they spotted the Spartan hauling a lot of equipment on one of those…Robotic Rovers as he and Cortana called them. They were soon treated to the sight of the Spartan removing his Armor and as soon as that was done and he was only wearing that article of clothing to cover his modesty, they were quick to see him in full appearance.

Needless to say…they LIKED what they saw.

For Erin, she was feeling her body get hotter and she licked her lips slowly as she savored to appearance of her savior who was bare of his Armor at last, and he was perfect. The Blood Elf was not fooling herself at all as she continued to drink in every detail of the Spartan's now revealed body. He had the muscles in all the right places and he was perfectly proportioned. It seemed that there was not a single flaw in his form at all. Though she naturally saw the scars on his body, some were fine and straight, others were jagged and harsh. However these scars didn't detract John's appearance to her, they only served to impress her as she could see that her savior was no stranger to combat and was very capable as a soldier due to the fact that he was still very much alive and breathing before her.

She looked at each bit of John's body and that served to make her even more eager to try her best to seduce the Spartan, not just for her people if she could, but for her own desire as well. She still wanted to thank the Spartan for saving her life as well as giving her a brand new arm to help her recover as well. There was also the fact that while there were some good looking human males she had seen before, this Spartan was exotic and handsome at the very same time, couple that with his body being peak physical condition added extra fuel to her inner fire.

She licked her lips once more and a large amount of thoughts were quickly taking root in her brain about how she was going to enjoy this for a very long time. She watched each movement and had no trouble whatsoever imagining her hands on the Spartan's body and more besides.

(My….you are MORE than I bargained for Spartan, I am going to enjoy every second I am going to have with you, I can't wait to see you move even more in our sparring sessions.)

For Kaelyn, the sight of the Spartan without his Armor on, coupled with his handsome face was more than enough to get the Night Elf Sentinel fully attracted to the Spartan in more ways than one. His form was very much in the epitome of human health and form, something that she knew was needed for the kind of life he led. She also saw the scars and it made her heart ache as she wondered how he had endured such a difficult life while still being quite young. She tried her best to think straight but the sight of the Spartan finally out of his armor was a very interesting sight as well as….arousing for the Night Elf Sentinel.

She tried her best to get some of her control back but seeing the Spartan like this was very surprising to her as she drank in very bit of his form as she could. He was exotic due to the pale skin he had, no doubt being in that armor for so long as she thought about it carefully. Her eyes watched his movements as he worked on his MJOLNIR Mark VI; they were all precise, fluid, and perfect, too perfect for any regular human to do. There was no doubt that before her was a powerful human being with exceptional abilities and the way his body moved with each action was more than entrancing to her. She had no trouble imaging her running her hands on his body…feeling the muscles there, the skin, the warmth…and then she.

The Night Elf Sentinel quickly blushed deep purple at the sudden turn of her thoughts and tried to put a stop to that, but a part of her mind was enjoying the thoughts of doing those said things with the handsome human before her.

(By Elune! I have to stop this right now! I am not some love struck maiden here! I must not think such things!)

However, a part of her mind called her to enjoy it, and despite her denials, she was enjoying it.

Sandra herself was enjoying the sight as well, she had seen handsome men before in her race and that of the humans, but this Spartan was a completely different being. After hearing about his life and the reason why he was called a Spartan, she had to give him due respect for living such a harsh and deadly life. Now she was seeing the results of such a life and she was very much amazed at how he looked bare of his armor. There seemed to be not a single bit of fat on him and his body was sleek, well formed and powerful like a predator. That alone was enough to send shivers running up and down the female Night Elf Hunter's spine.

She saw him move with ease and grace, fluidity and purpose. It was almost like when she and White Claw would hunt a deadly predator that was both beautiful and deadly at the very same time. Only in this case, she was looking at a man who was from another race of humans and from another world entirely. Unlike her friend Kaelyn, she was more open about her thoughts on the matters before her and she was enjoying the sight of the Spartan moving a good deal. She was surprised by the paleness of his skin, but she admitted that it gave him a very exotic quality that added further weight to his attractive qualities in conjunction with his body and face. She had no problem whatsoever imaging for herself how it would be to be running her hands on the Spartan's full form.

She had no trouble imagining everything that she would try in very vivid detail and she smiled to herself as she continued to take in every detail of the Spartan's body.

(Wow….he is certainly quite the sight, the pale skin actually adds to the attractiveness and mystery. Plus the scars seem right on him, considering the kind of life he leads back where he has come from. Mmmm, I can get used to this.)

…

Naturally there were not the only ones peaking at the Spartan as another woman was currently observing the Master Chief though in this case, it was with a scrying spell that she used to see just what the Spartan was up to in his camp, she couldn't the most surprising time to do so.

…

In Theramore Isle…

Jaina was surprised by this as she was now staring at the Spartan who was wearing only a pair of grey cotton military issue shorts and working on the repairs of MJOLNIR Mark VI, visually inspecting the equipment in a fashion that was similar to how she often had seen soldiers in the Alliance routinely check their equipment for any needed field repairs that would spell to them either victory or death. The Arch-mage had just done this as a thought to see how the Spartan was doing and what he was doing right now in the place where he has residing in at Kalimdor.

The scrying spell worked on her memories of the Chief's face and as soon as the spell was cast, a glowing orb revealed the Spartan, but in this case, he was not in his Armor and was almost naked with only what appeared to be grey clothing covering his….privates. The result was more than enough to make the Arch Mage blush in the face as she realized that she had apparently caught the Spartan at a rather bad time. However that didn't stop Jaina from taking a good look at the Spartan as he continued to do his work on his MJONLIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor.

Jaina was a very capable leader, mage, and also had a very strong sense of morals, but she was still a young woman and like any young woman she had to admit that the Spartan was quite an attractive man outside the Armor. There were scars on his body, there was no such thing as a veteran warrior without scars at all on their body, and if not on their body, then in their mind and soul as well. Still, the scars did little to detract the attractive qualities of the Spartan in her mind. His body had not a single inch of fat on it, and the way his muscles moved with sweat on them was every interesting to say the least in the least. As he moved about and looked intently at his work, the Arch mage couldn't help but be absorbed at the sight of how his muscles moved fluidly and with great power as well.

As she looked on she couldn't help but blush a bit more as the she looked at the Spartan as he continued with what he was doing at the moment. So focused was she on looking at the Spartan that she was unaware that she was not alone until…

"Jaina, what on Azeroth are you doing?"

Jaina turned to see none other than Aegwynn herself looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile on the former Guardian's face. That was more than enough to make her turn redder than a tomato as she quickly moved up and spoke to her adviser and friend.

"I'm sorry Aegwynn, I was just checking up on the Spartan to see what he was doing."

"So I see."

Jaina blushed as Aegwynn looked at what the young mage was looking at and the former Guardian smirked a bit and looked at her young counterpart and shrugged her shoulders at how Jaina looked down, a bit embarrassed by what she had been caught doing.

"You're a young woman Jaina, no need to be embarrassed about it. Anyway, when you're done admiring the young man, I suggest that we get back to running Theramore Isle's usual state of affairs, shall we?"

Jaina nodded and rather reluctantly ended her scrying spell, but not before looking at it once more. As they left Aegwynn couldn't help but smirk a bit at Jaina's actions, she could understand what was going through the young woman's mind though she ignored it. She was already far too old in any standard to think about such things herself, but that certainly didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate the male form and the Spartan was certainly someone worth looking at in the former Guardian's mind.

Aegwynn sighed a bit and decided that it would be better that she stopped thinking about such things for now, she had other duties that needed to be attended to.

…

Later on in the day…

As soon as he was done with the repairs and testing of the MJOLNIR Mark VI and was assured that was working up to the full specifications, the Spartan turned and spotted the audience he had though since Jaina had cut her scrying spell down before he would notice he was not aware that Jaina had been looking at him. As soon as that was done, he asked Cortana if she could start translating the writings and lessons of Sun Tzu in the book the 'Art of War' and translate them to the Darnassian Alphabet as a gift to High Priestess Tyrande.

The A.I nodded with a smile and went to work gathering all the relevant files and details together and began to have those translated into the language of the Night Elves, once that was done, he decided to dry himself up with a towel and when he was finished, he quickly got some hard wood, took one of the Combat Knives that were present and began to carve up some swords from the wood which he was more than able to do with considerable ease.

Once those were done, he got some cloth and rubber together to cover the sword blades to make sure that these would not cut flesh and skin easily as well as not bruise or break bones. He made a number of these and handed them to his three trainers in the sword arts. The three women naturally decided to figure out just who among them would train with the Spartan for the beginning. The argument lasted for a bit until the Spartan reminded them that they were to take turns with training him on how to fight with swords. It was not long before it was decided, and with considerable reluctance that Erin would go first as she had more experience with blades than Sandra and Kaelyn, the next would be Sandra and Kaelyn would be the last. This was more than enough to make the Blood Elf smile in relish while Sandra and Kaelyn fumed hotly at this and they vowed to keep an eye on the Blood Elf.

However, Erin cared little for that as she was more than ready to begin training the Spartan, as well as do her best to get into the good graces of the Spartan, not to mention that she was more than willing to try and seduce the Spartan as best she could.

…

They were currently training in the inner area of the wall surrounding the Dawn and on a basket ball court sized training ground that was marked by three foot high poles on the corners and marked with crushed white stone to serve as the boundaries of the training field, the field itself was cleared of anything that would be a problem on them like stones, branches and the like.

As Erin walked into the ring, she changed her clothing, she wore a black leather halter top as well as a pair of sleek but strong back pants as well as light shoes while she carried the cloth and rubber wrapped swords and placed them down nearby for them to use, the Spartan was still wearing the short pants which were form fitting and the Blood Elf blushed slightly as she finally got to see the frost side of the Spartan's now revealed form and she liked what she saw.

(Hmmm….he had a nice posterior when I saw it, but damn…this is going to be fun after all, he's certainly well gifted.)

Erin quickly looked up to see that the Spartan seemed very calm as he waited for her and seemed to be still the same even when she swayed her hips in the way that would easily get the attention of any man. Instead the Spartan seemed calm and collected, focused on what he needed to do. This didn't deter Erin to say the least as she was going to enjoy finally getting the Spartan aroused by her actions.

As soon as she was there, she decided to get the lesson underway as she took a pair of wooden swords for them to use, she then spoke to the Spartan.

"All right then. Let's get down to the basics of sword holding. First take these and let me see your grip."

The Spartan showed that and Erin moved about to look at the Spartan's posture, she knew that she was going to help her savior and kept that in mind, that however didn't mean that she was not going to use this chance to get close to the Spartan. She spotted that the grip needed to loosen up a bit and she moved in.

"No, you need to have a good grip on the sword, not too tight, or too loose, that way you can be able to change your grip easily, all right?"

While she did this she pressed her body closer to the Spartan while moving her hands on his own to his hand, showing him how to grip it while moving close to the Spartan. The Master Chief managed to remain calm and relaxed, and normally any seductress who was new in the craft would have disliked the apparent lack of progress with their target.

Erin on the other hand didn't mind at all, her actions earlier had allowed her to get a feel of the Spartan's body while she rested the side of her head on his shoulder, she could feel the warmth and hardness of the Spartan's body and he happened to have a smell, a nice clean smell that was undeniably male. All of it was very nice to her senses as well as the time when she pressed her breasts on the Spartan's back.

(Mmm, this feels nice.)

The Blood Elf turned and looked a bit to see the two Night Elf females glaring darkly at her as they were able to see her actions on the Spartan and they were naturally not very happy with it, but she cared little for that as she continued with her training of the Spartan in the ways of her Rogue kin. The training also included some sparring matches and she was impressed as she watched him go through some movements. He had slowed down his physical abilities, yet even though he had reduced his abilities to equalize with her, she was utterly impressed by how the Spartan fought.

Many of the Spartan's moves were fluid, precise, quick, and powerful at the very same time, making him move like a whirlwind of death even without the Armor he had on. This was proof that what he said about his Augmentations giving him abilities that were beyond most humans. Erin watched him move carefully and she felt her heart beat faster and her attraction to the Spartan continue to grow as she was quickly imagining what the results would be once she was finally able to seduce the Spartan.

Those thoughts were more than enough to make her do whatever she could to teach her savior and eventually see just what else he was capable of with such reflexes, speed, strength and power. And in this case, she was thinking of a situation that involved a lot of privacy and removed clothing.

The Spartan and the Blood Elf sparred with one another and the Spartan told Erin to come at him with intent to kill, she was not quite happy with it but accepted the Spartan's request and soon she was happy that she did as the Spartan was more than able to hold her own. Their sparring was at least several hours and Erin was able to help him with attacks and moves, all the while pressing herself close to the Spartan, enjoying the feel of the Spartan's body on her own, as well as enjoying the dark and hostile glares directed at her by the two Night Elves.

…

It was not long before Cortana spoke on the speakers that she was done with the translation of Sun Tzu's work in the Art of War and it was ready to be sent to Tyrande for her to have. Cortana naturally spoke out first on the matter concerning the work that they were going to send the High Priestess of the Night Elves.

"I hope that she is able to find a very good use for this book and what it has stored in it."

Jarrod then moved up and spoke to the Spartan.

"If you don't mind, I will be more than willing to take this book to High Priestess Tyrande while you and the others remain here to continue your training."

John nodded to that and spoke to Jarrod.

"I would appreciate that."

With that done, the Druid was more than ready to get on the move and when the books was given to him by the Spartan he was quick to take his crow form and flew off to the direction of Darnassus to deliver the Master Chief's gift to the High Priestess of the Night Elf race, and hopefully it would be something that Tyrande would be able to put the information in the book to good use in not just wartime but in peace time.

…

It was after they had lunch and a chance to rest that it was now Sandra's turn to train the Spartan and she was more than ready to train him in her own style of fighting, she also wore her secondary Leather Armor and those pieces of Leather Armor were in two pieces, the next was a tank top that hugged her chest and back well with some metal plating underneath where her bust happened to be, and her pants happened to have slits on the sides that were not too wide, and showed her hips all the way to the knees. The female Night Elf Hunter knew the basic moves but was able to make some new moves to help with her skills in close combat.

She smiled as she began to train with the Spartan showing her several of her own moves that took advantage of what she had learned along with what she was able to perfect on her own time. She also moved closer to the Spartan to see just how he was doing and seeing the sweat covered muscle that was before her was very interesting to say the very least. She moved closer and like what Erin had done before she was getting closer to the Spartan.

The feel of his sweat covered muscle in her hands was more than enough to excite the Night Elf female as she guided him through the movements and postures that were needed in the style of fighting that she was teaching.

"There…move your hand in this direction and strike at this angle."

The Spartan nodded as he went through the actions and the motions as well while Sandra guided him through the motions. Naturally Sandra was very serious in looking at the Spartan and not just to see if he was doing things right. When she had seen him with his repairing of his Armor from what she could understand of the whole complex and somewhat unknown process, he was quite capable in doing complex motions and actions. Throughout the whole training session that went on between the two of them, she was more than happy to see how he would move in time with her own actions when they fought as she used both her wooden blades in combat with him.

As they continued with their training, it was already half way to the afternoon and she was a bit tired yet the Spartan seemed to be able to continue with his actions. That showed to her and no doubt to the two other women that John had a lot of endurance and stamina as he continued to move as well as attack and defend at the same time when they sparred with one another And like Erin before her she noted that the Spartan was well proportioned and it was only the fact that they were sparring with one another that prevented her from looking in embarrassment and interest.

(Wow….I now know that he is quite strong and fast and were as perfectly shaped, but I never imagined that he's also well formed there of all places. No wonder that Blood Elf was staring at him like this the whole time they were training together.)

…

It was near the evening that it was Kaelyn's turn to train with the Spartan after Sandra spoke out that she was done with her turn. That was more than enough to make Kaelyn happy, though she was a bit nervous as she took one of the training blades and moved into the training area to face the Spartan himself. Kaelyn herself was no slouch with the Sword and had picked up a number of tricks during her time studying with the Ancient of War that had helped train her and her sisters in the arts of battle. She had some very good sword skills and was able to hold her own when she ran out of her arrows and that has happened more than once in her life as a Sentinel as well. She was familiar with several close combat techniques that were all used by Sentinels in battle.

She was still in her usual garb which she preferred since she was an Archer and needed to rely on speed, agility, and mobility in order to win. This was something that was balanced by her sword skills in combat in close quarters though she didn't have any trouble as she could pick off her foes quickly and effectively at range. As she approached the Spartan she managed to focus on showing him a few moves of her own. They began to train just as night came and she was worried about the fact that the Spartan couldn't see her in the dark while she could easily see him. She thought it would be a problem and told the Spartan so. But John replied to that.

"I had an augmentation done to my eyes so I actually have unaided Night Vision so I can see you just fine, you were there after all."

Kaelyn then recalled that information and silently berated herself for forgetting that fact. However she blushed to herself as she recalled that she had been staring without any embarrassment at the revealed form of the Spartan's body the whole time, that she forgot that bit of information cleanly in her mind. She placed that aside and began to spar with the Spartan while also showing some techniques she picked up from her training in the past. While she was doing this, she couldn't help but be affected by the closeness between them as well as seeing how the Spartan moved in combat.

They continued with their training until Cortana activated some lights and aimed them at the training area, and that was a bit welcoming for them, though Kaelyn now saw what was it that both Erin and Sandra had seen before on the Spartan. And she blushed deeply as she found her gaze lingering there briefly, she quickly recovered and blocked an attack from the Spartan as they were currently sparring with one another.

Despite that near hit, and the subsequent attacks that the Spartan had used on her to test her lessons and put them to good effect, she still couldn't help have flashes of the image of what she saw of the Spartan's anatomy in her mind's eye. And it was not long before her imagination began to conjure up images that made her even more shocked and….anxious.

(By Elune! I must focus here! Now is not the time for such thoughts!)

All the while, Cortana had been scanning the three women and she couldn't help but smirk as she had been running scans on the three elves and had picked up a lot of information concerning how the women were doing while they sparred with John before her, and she enjoyed what she was able to see with her scanners.

(Hmmm, if John only knew what I am seeing from those two, elevated body heat, faster breathing, elevated heart rate, flushing in certain parts of the body….not to mention the way the eyes are focused, and the most telling of all. The sudden increase of pheromones in the air around them as well as floating about in the area, it's a lot of pheromones that's for sure. I wonder if John is being affected by all of the things happening at this moment around him?)

…

A week later…

(Hmmm….interesting…)

High Priestess Tyrande was currently reading the book that was given to her by the Spartan as a gift and she had to admit that work that was given to her was impressive. This human of the UNSC named Sun Tzu was quite gifted in the art of strategy and tactics and the fact that these strategies could indeed be also used in peace time and administration was quite interesting to her. The information here had good sense and could easily be used by anyone who needed advice on how to plan and execute said plans in war time and peace time. The fact that the Spartan had willingly translated this into her people's language gave her a good deal of respect for the Spartan's willingness to give this kind of information to her.

(This can prove to be very helpful in the near future.)

Back at the Dawn the long week of training for the Master Chief continued and this time, the Spartan was now being shown some of the old sword wielding techniques that was used by old style Earth warriors in their own battles in holograms that the UNSC A.I was able to make. The Spartan was more than willing to use what she was showing him in conjunction to the techniques that he had been able to pick up from the three women who had been teaching him. His augmentation for creativity, reflexes, memory, and intelligence was more than enough to help him learn and combine the styles he learned from the three elves and Cortana's database to being crafting a style of his own, he also planned to incorporate those with the use of the Covenant Energy Sword to further see just how far this would go.

Jarrod had returned half the week before and had conveyed Tyrande's thanks for the book and the Druid returned to help with security of the compound by communing the sprits of the Land. The spirits of the land seemed to be all right with the ongoing situation and that was comforting to the Druid as he was a bit worried that the Spartan's presence as well as the presence of his ship and all of the technology that was stored in the ship itself would anger the spirits of the land that the Spartan was currently residing in.

As for the women in question were still training and sparring with him, the week had been a REAL test for their self control in more ways than one. Erin, Sandra, and Kaelyn had to admit to themselves that seeing the Spartan without his Armor on his body was certainly a very interesting experience for them as they continued to train him for a week.

For them, it was hard not to imagine taking things a bit further than most; Kaelyn was a lot more serious about this matter and tried to remain objective in teaching the Spartan all she could, but there was no denying the fact that she was very much affected by what she had seen and her thoughts had become a lot more personal concerning the Spartan. The same could be said also of both Sandra and Erin, though the two women have a far different way of seeing their attraction to the Spartan.

Kaelyn couldn't help herself in imagining those images that were moving about in her mind, but she restrained herself, she decided to take this slowly and see just how this situation would play out and what she would do when it reaches that exact point. She was not going to hold her breath on the matter of course, but who knew what the future held for her and the others when it concerned the Spartan. But if it does happen, she wondered just how was she going to handle the situation when it finally came to her.

Sandra was a lot more open minded than her friend Kaelyn and had found a lot of attractive males in her time travelling and fighting as a Hunter in the lands beyond Kalimdor. But there was indeed something about the Spartan that was exotic, beautiful, exciting, and deadly as well. She had no trouble in imagining the things she might be able to do with the Spartan when given the chance.

As for Erin, the whole week of finally seeing the Spartan without his armor on him was a treat that she continued to enjoy in her personal time alone. All manner of images flowed through her mind when she thought of what she could do when she finally got the Spartan to allow her to reward him for what he already did for her. It was not easy since the Spartan was so calm and collected, but that was not going to stop her from doing what she wanted to do to him, oh no.

Naturally while all this was going on, Tyrande's warning concerning the Ambassadors was coming true.

…

In Stormwind Keep…

King Varian Wrynn and several members of the Noble Houses along with members of SI:7, Bolvar Fordragon and Tirion Fordring, founder of the newly created force known as the Argent Dawn were currently listening into the reports from Ambassador Durnhelm as he had returned from the land of the Night Elves. Needless to say, a number of the Nobles were quick to make comments on this matter while Varian remained silent and tried to determine a good course of action on how to deal with this new arrival who apparently was not from this world. He had recently returned to the throne he had left behind and he was doing his best to fix the mistakes that had been done to his land thanks to that Black Dragon Onyxia when she was in power and manipulating his other self for some time. Ever since he had taken the throne back, there had been some serious changes to the Stormwind nobility and government as he began to rule once more. It was why it was only now that he was told of the Spartan's existence.

It was then that he turned to speak to his long time friend and the man who had raised his only son while he had been away and eventually kidnapped.

"What do you make of this….Spartan Bolvar?"

The long time soldier and adviser to King Varian replied.

"I am not so sure how to answer that my King, I know little of this Spartan even after Ambassador Durnhelm's descriptions. The idea of him coming from another world and from a race of humanity that has achieved such feats is rather difficult to imagine, even with such weapons and armor that he has with him."

"I agree with you there Bolvar, but could he be lying to us for some reason?"

The soldier thought it over and shook his head.

"I do not think so my King, I believe that his reasons for his stance as a neutral party are rather sound ones. If he is from another world entirely then his desire not to be involved in the politics of this world is a sound one, and of course sharing the technology of his people with those he does not know of might not be wise."

Varian thought it over and then turned to Tirion, head of the Argent Dawn.

"What of you Tirion, what do you make of this…Spartan?"

"I am afraid that I cannot fully answer that question King Varian, with little information on this man, I cannot make any suitable and accurate conclusion as to how we can approach this matter. Besides, there have been no reports as of yet from any of my people in Kalimdor about this person's location in the land itself. If we were to look for him in the lands of the Night Elves, we must make sure that we do not do anything that will compromise our alliance with the Night Elves and High Priestess Tyrande. Besides, from what I can understand of this, this Spartan as he calls himself is a man of his word. If he intends to come to this land, he will do so in his own time and his own terms, we cannot force him."

Bolvar nodded as well in agreement with Tirion.

"Lord Tirion speaks truth my King, even if he is human as we are, though we have yet to confirm this, we have to remember that since he is not from this world we cannot force him into anything unless he agrees to this matter. He also appears to be more than capable of resisting any attempts to force him into anything that he personally will not agree to. If we were to try and enlist his aid for the Alliance, it must be done with him being willing to join us. A person who is properly motivated and is willing to fight of his own free will is a far better soldier than one that is forced into service and his heart is not into the cause he fights for."

Varian nodded at that, Tirion and Bolvar were correct in what they have told him. He had succeeded in coming home to Stormwind long ago because he had the desire, the causer, the motivation, training, skill, support and the reason to come home to his people., he knew that his duty was too the people of his beloved Stormwind and those under the rule that his family had been part of. Besides, with no knowledge of this Spartan's exact location in the lands of Tyrande and her people, he was well aware of what would happen if Alliance forces were on the move in Kalimdor for no reason.

He might not trust the Horde all that much and he would have wanted them gone, but without any reason to go to war just yet, he decided to wait. He then turned to Mathias Shaw, head of SI:7 and spoke seriously to the man who was head of the Intelligence Service of the Alliance forces in Azeroth and beyond.

"Do you have any information to give Mathias?"

"I am afraid not my King, we have little information on this being as of yet."

"I see."

Varian thought it over carefully and decided that he would have to wait, he would have asked his old comrades, the Night Elf Druid Broll Bearmantle, and also the Blood Elf Valeera Sanguinar, they were currently on other maters which was sad since he missed them a good deal and hoped that would have heard any news of this stranger, it was then that he had an idea.

"Maybe Jaina has some information about this person we seek, there's a chance that she has heard of him after all."

Both Bolvar and Tirion thought it over as well as Mathias and all three men nodded at that, Jaina would have more information than they did about this Spartan, and it would be better that they ask her directly. Jaina would also know if this Spartan had any possible alliance with the Horde, if not then at least they had some idea on what to make of this being and decide the right course of action.

However, there were those who had other plans in mind as a number of people who were in the chambers moved away to begin talking about their own course of action concerning the Spartan.

…

In Ironforge…

King Magni Bronzebeard along with his advisers, Royal Historian Archesonus, Senator Barin Redstone, High Explorer Magellas, and High Tinker Mekkatorque listened to the reports given by their respective racial ambassadors about the situation. As soon as the reports were done the Dwarven king ran his right hand on his beard in thought on what he and his people should do with the information that was brought to them about their world's unexpected resident. The same could be said for Mekkatorque as he ran through the possibilities of what this would mean for his people, as well as the chance to finally reclaim the city of his people.

The Dwarven king then turned to his gnomish counterpart and spoke.

"What do you think of this information Mekkatorque?"

"Quite fascinating in every possible angle Magni….to think that such a race of humans have gone beyond the world of their birth and colonized that many worlds is amazing indeed. If we have the technology he possesses in our hands, research them carefully for as long as we can, we can very well develop the tools powerful enough to help both our races."

Magni nodded in agreement on the matter though he decided to take some extra time to decide on what would be the best course of action when it came to the Spartan and his technology. His people were still busy trying to make their defenses against the Dark Iron Dwarves that were still roving around in war bands to harass their forces, as well as deal with the usual threats that plagued their lands. Not only that, they were also gathering their forces to discover more of their Titan heritage. The technology that this Spartan possessed would certainly speed up those things.

However, he was an honorable dwarf and had no intention to force the Spartan to reveal his secrets through force. He knew that he had to make another attempt to speak to the Spartan and in a more formal manner. But he also knew that since they had no idea exactly where this Spartan made his home or base of operations in the lands of the Night Elves, just sending a force of his people there without any viable reason was not going to sit well with Tyrande Whisperwind. And there was a big chance that the Orcs might not take well with the sudden increase of Alliance forces near their borders with the Night Elves.

As for High Tinker Mekkatorque, he was trying to find a solution to the new situation before him, the technology that his people's ambassador described was certainly very impressive to say the least. If they had samples of such technology with them, they could reverse engineer them and use them to finally reclaim their lost home city.

Mekkatorque still had to live with the fact that it was his decision to flood his beloved city with the deadly radiation in an attempt to halt the Trogg advance that attacked their home city. This was the reason they were unable to aid the Alliance in the Third War, they knew that they needed to fight this alone and allow the Alliance to focus their full manpower in fighting the Legion and the Scourge. Their decision cost them many lives. And Mekkatorque's own actions doomed the city to be rendered uninhabitable.

All of this was due to his former friend Sicco Thermaplugg, who he now knew that been part of the whole Trogg invasion as he wanted to lead their people to be more than High Tinker, but King. His sanity and obsession had been hidden by a mask of friendship between them. He had been the one who proposed that the Gnomes isolate themselves to fight this threat without aid from the other races of the Alliance. He had done this to ruin Mekkatorque and take the throne. He created the weapon and allowed it to be used….killing many gnomes, all for his twisted and mad desire to be king.

It enraged Mekkatorque and filled him with shame for his part in the poisoning of his people's capital city, the deaths of so many Gnomish men, women, and children, and their exile. He vowed that no matter what he would redeem himself and finally reclaim him people's home once and for all. But with his people still recovering and their allies busy with many difficulties, that desire was still unfulfilled and his shame and guilt never truly removed.

This stranger, this Spartan and his technology could be the key to finally helping his race recover their home city once and for all.

Magni sensed that and spoke to Mekkatorque.

"Let's not go overboard just yet there Mekka, we can't just look for this…Spartan since we still have no idea where in the lands of Kalimdor he might be, and you know how Lady Tyrande will react if we just start sending our people there without a valid reason."

"I know….but I feel…"

"I know…you want to reclaim your people's city, and I will help you anyway I can since our people have been working side by side for many, many years. But we can't just rely on one being no matter how powerful this being might be. We just need to watch and gather all we can. If he does help us, then you can ask for his help."

Mekkatorque nodded at that and he decided to bid his time until he was ready to launch the plan to not only free the city of his people, but bring the traitor Thermaplugg to justice.

…

In the Exodar…

Prophet Velen listened carefully to the report given to him by Emissary Valustraa and when she was done, the leader of the Draenei thought carefully about the implications of what he had been told concerning the Spartan and where he came from. To have heard of another human race that has not only left their home world but also colonized that many worlds was quite hard to imagine for the Draenei as they had never been able to encounter such humans before in their long travels. Meeting such humans could be quite different in many aspects as well as having potential benefits. However Velen was not going to just jump in without taking the time needed to make a very careful evaluation of the Spartan.

He turned to the others of the leadership of their race, namely Farseer Nobundo, and High Priestess Ishanah. They were part of the Inner Circle and he trusted them just as much as he trusted the Naaru that support them all. This new development was important for them to find out and he too felt that sooner or later, a vision would come to him concerning the visitor that Emissary Valustraa spoke to them about.

He turned to Farseer Nobundo and spoke with respect and trust to his shaman counterpart.

"Nobundo, what does the Wind tell you of this being?"

The Broken Draenei Shaman spoke solemnly after closing his eyes and listening to the wind.

"He is not a demon, but those who he fought against to save his race call him as such, but unlike the Legion, he is a warrior of pure strength and will. The Wind tells me that he is neither enemy nor ally, but a being who will balance all things, just as the Five Powers do."

Velen thought this over and High Priestess Ishanah then spoke.

"This Spartan that Valustraa speaks of, may he be able to help us in our own matters? If he is neither ally nor enemy, what must we4 do if we are to meet him?"

Velen replied after a few minutes of meditation.

"One thing is clear, we may only observe him and those who follow him, he is an enigma, that is true. But he is not our foe, and if the time comes, he may well become an ally."

Nobundo nodded slowly and spoke once again.

"But only time shall tell, for now, the Wind says we shall observe and wait for a better time, Though he is neither ally nor enemy, that will change in time."

Velen answered to that.

"And that is something we can do, for now we shall observe and learn as much as we can from him, but if he needs aid, then we shall offer it to show that we are not his enemies. We shall respect his neutrality as he is not our enemy at all. No life or being must be forced to serve the Light of Creation, they must do so willingly and without any form of fear."

The others nodded and Velen decided that it would be best to gather some of their kind to watch over this Spartan for now, to observe and learn, but not interfere at all unless needed. This was their best chance to understand more about this being before them all.

And maybe, someday, he might play a key role in helping to defeat the many dangers that exist in this world.

…

In the Dawn…

The group, after having their breakfast was surprised by the sudden announcement of the Spartan who to the disappointment of the three elven females had gone back to wearing his MJOLNIR Mark VI, though they could tell that he seemed more relaxed as he wore the Armor once more. Jarrod himself was also surprised but very eager when he heard it, Kaelyn was naturally the one to speak first to the Spartan.

"You want to go to the continent of Azeroth?"

John nodded as he ate his food while his helmet was on the table, he was currently eating a tray filled with some of the cooked venison and a few fully cooked vegetables from the Dawn's freezer, as well as a cup of coffee, which he still kept out of reach from the others in the group since he had no idea how they would react to the caffeine in the drink. As he finished, he then explained his decision to go to Azeroth.

"I need to have level of understanding of the lands beyond Kalimdor, I don't plan on setting up shop there as of yet, but getting the feel of the place is certainly going to be worth doing, besides, gathering samples of the resources and materials there will certainly help me out a lot when I need to produce things I need using native raw materials."

The three Night Elves thought about it and Sandra replied for her group.

"That sounds like a workable idea, and since we happen to have some of our kin who have set themselves up there in the lands of Azeroth, they can help us out with any information and materials we can use, though we might have a problem with a certain someone in this group we happen to have."

Kaelyn nodded at that and spoke out as well.

"I fully agree with Sandra on that matter as well, she's not exactly going to be welcome in Alliance lands after all. They might very well arrest her or do worse."

John was quick to understand just who both Sandra and Kaelyn were driving at and he looked at Erin who had a very deep frown on her face which was naturally directed at both Night Elves. She knew that they were right of course, her kind were not the least bit welcome in Alliance lands, and even if they were not arrested or attacked right from the beginning, any merchant of the Alliance would charge her astronomical prices to buy things.

She looked at John and smiled sadly at him.

"As much as I hate to admit it, they do have a point."

Cortana then spoke as she appeared next to the group from one of the holo-tanks.

"Well we can't exactly leave you here either, that means we have two options, one we could drop you off in Theramore Isle, John will convince Jaina Proudmoore to send you back somehow to your homeland, or we bring you anyway and try to disguise you from anyone who might be able to recognize you."

Erin didn't like the options, the first was the fact that if she returned now without any report on the Alliance, then that was not going to be good news to the rest of her people, the next was the fact that she was still not able to thank the Spartan for what he did for her as well as get him on her side as well as seduce him and find out just what else he was able to do. The next was the fact that she was going to be in the lands of the human members of the Alliance, being in Night Elf territory was not very easy for her, being in the humans' lands would be worse in other ways.

She thought it over carefully and when she looked at the Spartan who was waiting patiently for her to make her decision and when she thought over her options once more, she decided to give her answer to the situation before her.

"I'll go with you to Azeroth, I still owe you for saving my life and giving me a new arm, I'll find a way to keep myself out of sight as soon as we get there to Azeroth. Since my people usually wear red and black, I can just swap clothing and wear something less attention getting."

That was when Cortana spoke.

"I think that the Master Chief and I might be able to help in that department, we actually have a number of clothes left behind but they happen to be mostly UNSC Marine issued fatigues so they don't happen to be very fashionable. But they certainly are unknown to the people here and can be useful in the situation we have right now. By the way, I think that we might need to bring along some of the Marine Battle Body Armor units that we have with us as well, just in case you ladies need some form of protection."

That got the interest of the elves quickly enough and John's own attention as well as he looked at Cortana carefully.

"Are you sure about that Cortana?"

"It's just for precautions' sake, plus the fatigues will work as a form of disguise once we do some cosmetic changes. Besides, it's high time we got some of the defensive gear to good use just in case things get too dicey there for one reason or another. So just before we go, allow me to make any needed modifications to some of the gear and we are very much good to go."

Erin didn't exactly like the idea of wearing armor beyond Leather, Rogues like her were reliant of wearing gear that gave them good defensive abilities while not weighing them down for any reason whatsoever anything that weighed down a Rogue was a death sentence as well as Mages like her. She still used magic from time to time when the situation demanded it and that also didn't allow her to wear anything that would weigh her down.

"How exactly can this Body Armor help me? I am a Rogue and my specialty in combat is stealth, cunning, surprise, and mobility. Wearing anything heavier is only going to help slow me down."

Cortana grinned and replied.

"The Armor used by the UNSC's Marines and ODSTs are a lot different than what your world happens to use."

The Night Elves recalled seeing the images of these ODSTs and they had admit that the Armor looked somewhat intimidating, though not in the same area as the one worn by the Spartan himself. The Spartan then looked at both Kaelyn and Sandra as he spoke to them as well.

"You might also want to try them out as well. You might need the protection if we get into some serious fighting. Plus it would certainly help if you don't want to attract too much attention to yourselves. Relatively speaking of course, now then, let's get to work."

…

Three days later…

The Albatross was currently flying over the Great Sea of the world of Azeroth and inside was the Spartan himself and Cortana who was currently inside the holo-tank and chatting with the Spartan as they moved to the location of the other largest continent on the world they were now in that was known as Azeroth. The satellite that they had released before was still there above the world, transmitting new information to the A.I as she continued to process and record everything that was happening down there on the world below it.

The Spartan took with him a number of tools as well as a stash of weapons and ammunition, along with MREs, and medical supplies as well as spare armor that would be given to his companions should they decide to use them in situations where defense was needed. So far, the four of them were in the back and the Spartan looked to Cortana and asked her something.

"You mind flying this while I check on the others?"

Cortana smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead John, I'll deal with the flying bit."

The Spartan moved away while carrying a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle on his back while he left his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle in the nearby weapons rack in the cockpit, along with the two katanas that he had made before. He opened the door in the cockpit to check on the others and found Jarrod sitting down and meditating, White Claw munching down on a bowl full of meat in a very leisurely manner while the three other members of the group were still getting used to the Armor they happened to be wearing for now.

Erin, Kaelyn, and Sandra had to admit that the fatigues that they were wearing right now were actually rather comfortable and rather good to wear, these were in a jungle/woodland camouflage scheme to better work in those said areas of operation. The three elf females were also wearing the UNSC Ballistic Assault Vests over their fatigues along with the new variant of the M52B Body Armor, which had armor for the thighs and forearms as well, and last were the VZG7 Combat Boots as well.

To the surprise of the three women, the Armor was remarkably comfortable and actually seemed to keep their bodies in a comfortable temperature, added to that was the fact that the armor was rather light despite the bulky appearance then they first put it on. The Armor seemed to adhere to their bodies easily and soon they felt like they were wearing only slightly heavier gear than before without giving away too much mobility. The Spartan also replied that they could remove the Armor and stick to the Ballistic Assault Vest if they needed extra mobility as the vests were strong enough for that. The material that made the vest was also woven by Cortana into key areas to add a hidden layer of protection as well if the attacks bypassed the armor that the three women had on them as well.

As he looked at them, there was part of the Spartan's mind that seemed to give a sigh of relief that the women were wearing clothing and armor that kept them better covered, and it was not just for security and defensive concerns either. He had a hard time dealing with the actions of the women for the past few days since he had started sparring and training with them in combat due to their actions when they were close to him. Both Sandra and Erin were a lot more forward and direct than Kaelyn when they were close to him, the Sentinel on the other hand was more cautious and anxious as well, though willing to get closer to him when they were training in sword techniques. It had been hard for the Spartan to deal with those kinds of situations as they had never happened to him before in his entire life, so while he did go through it all easily enough due to his professionalism, military conditioning, and training , that was still showing that he was still affected by them.

He placed aside those thoughts and where they might lead to as he spoke to the three women.

"How do you find the gear?"

All three of them turned to face him, Sandra and Kaelyn had their bows on their backs as well as their quivers of arrows with the straps of the quivers inside the armor, their swords on their sides as well as some Combat Knives as well, as for Erin she had her swords there as well as her supply bag on hand. The Blood Elf was the first to speak.

"It's very good, though I might have some difficulty sneaking about with this armor if it makes too much noise all of a sudden. But considering that it's actually quite comfortable and cool, it's pretty good, though I have yet to see this in action."

Sandra then spoke as she moved about a bit with her own set of UNSC Marine Body Armor.

"It's a bit heavier than my mail armor, but it certainly is comfortable and form fitting, not exactly what I expected when I first looked at it, it's a bit new to me, but protection can really come in handy if things get really bad."

Kaelyn then spoke as well when the Spartan turned to look at her.

"It's all right, it's not the same as the Armor I normally wear so I am trying to get used to it, but it is good to the skin and form fitting as well."

The Spartan nodded at that, satisfied that they were all right with the gear that he and Cortana had handed to them. He then spoke to the three of them to make sure that they understood the equipment that they were now using as their form of protection.

"All right, the Armor you happen to have on is the full ensemble that the Marines of the UNSC wear so they are more than able to handle most small arms, fire, shrapnel, and explosive force, and no doubt is also very effective in countering close combat blade attacks and the occasional arrow hit. But keep in mind that it's not invincible and can be damaged so try to avoid getting into a situation where you can't easily get out of all right?"

The three Elves nodded at that just as Cortana spoke through the COM Link to the Spartan.

"Chief, we've got a situation up here."

The whole group moved out from where they were and they were now in the cockpit just as Cortana appeared before them. John wordlessly nodded to Cortana for her to tell them just what was going on, and the A.I was more than willing to show them. The screen showed the images coming from the satellite overhead and there in the images were a number of humans chasing another human who was wearing ornate armor with some symbol on it and colors as well. They had no idea what they were looking at first but it was not long before Erin spoke.

"I recognize that kind of armor, that's the kind worn by human footmen from the Capital of Stormwind."

Sandra looked and nodded in agreement.

"She's right, but there's more to that, the man's armor is well made….too well made to be regular Alliance military, I can wager a guess he must be one of the Royal Guard of the Capital city, and those chasing him, they are members of the Defias Brotherhood."

The Spartan turned and it was Erin who supplied the answers.

"The Defias Brotherhood are a collection of thieves and rogues who have a considerable amount of grievance to the people of Stormwind. My people normally care little for such things, but we have heard of them, most of the original Brotherhood used to be former artisans and stonemasons who had rebuilt Stormwind after the end of the Second War when my people were still part of the Alliance. After they had rebuilt the city, the Nobles didn't pay them and expelled them from the city that made the stonemasons riot and their actions killed the Queen of Stormwind years before, they then took the laborers who were exiled as well as they were. Their leader was a man named Edwin VanCleef if I recall right and they had been founded as a force to combat what had done to them."

Sandra also agreed with a nod of the head.

"That's true, but now they have changed, they have more ruthless tactics and usually have been razing farmlands that supply food to Stormwind, attacked loyal villages and towns to Stormwind, and more besides. There have been rumors of them also creating some sort of secret weapon that will be used to destroy Stormwind. I've fought them before and they can be very tenacious, while they lack the overall military power, resources, and more of the Stormwind Army, their skills in stealth and ambush as well as their use of mechanical weapons makes them a big threat to most forces who are ill prepared for them. The Stormwind City Guard can't go after them completely and neither can the People's Militia, I had even heard that their captured members have been attacking Stormwind from within as well."

Kaelyn looked at the image and spoke to the Spartan.

"What should we do?"

The Spartan was silent and quickly made his move as he guided the Albatross right to where the Stormwind Royal Guard was in an intercept course. They had originally planned to take a more northern route over the continent, well away from any settlements to avoid startling the populace of the land, but now that seemed to be out of his hands.

…

On the ground…

"Accursed cowards…"

Captain James Hansen of the Stormwind Royal Guard shouted as he fought with the pursuing Defias Bandits that were still hounding him, his wounds were grave but he cared little for that as he was focused on trying to escape and report the situation to the people in Stormwind, namely to King Varian himself. He felt great shame in himself that made his pain even worse, he had been part of a convoy that was escorting none other than Prince Anduin Wynn who had gone to the township of Lakeshire to see how the situation was in the Redridge Mountains. Even though it was wrong considering the dangers, the young prince had insisted on this as he wanted to see how he could help his people in a more direct and personal fashion.

The young boy and his father had talked long and hard about this and it was only when the Prince agreed to be escorted by him and his unit that he was allowed to go. Privately however, the King respected his son for his bravery and willingness to get his hands dirty every now and then, despite the risks to his person. That was what made Varian proud of his son. He and the rest of his unit had vowed to protect the Prince even though many of them knew that he was able to hold his own since he was skilled with the bow and now the sword, they respected him since he was indeed wise and skilled for a boy his age.

They had been returning back to Stormwind and had already left the mountain areas when a large band of these Defias bastards and whores came at them from out of nowhere. He quickly ordered his troops to defend the prince and fight their way out of the trap. The battle had been a hard one as the band that attacked them were well armed and had numbers on their side as well.

They had managed to pull through with the combined efforts of each member of his unit and that of the Prince himself when another large band came from another location and quickly cut them in half. His party of soldiers had tried to clear the way for the prince and the others escorting him, but they quickly found themselves surrounded and cut off from the others.

He and his comrades fought desperately to reach the Prince to save him and their comrades, but they were being cut down by the swarming bastards, it was then that the young Prince ordered them to escape and warn his father the King.

He refused to leave the young Prince's side and so did those who were with him but Anduin ordered them to go and warn his father. That was the last he saw as he and his group were pushed back by yet another band of Defias bandits who came out once more. They knew there and that that if they didn't escape, there would be no one to tell the King what had happened and they moved out.

But they were being picked off by the bastards until he was the only one left, his armor was damaged and there were wounds all over him and he had no doubt some broken bones. But he pressed on even if he was going to kill himself, he owed his unit and the Prince to reach Stormwind and make the Defias pay for what they have done.

However, it was then that he was surrounded by a band of Defias who were all ready to kill him, he gritted his teeth and lifted his broadsword and got ready to fight even if he was in a very bad way.

"Come on you bastards!"

The Defias members however mocked him as they knew that he was going to die soon from his wounds so they could have fun with him for now before they killed him.

"Hah! Look at that lapdog bark!"

"I'm so scared….ahahahaha!"

"You can't do anything fool….soon your precious Prince will be nothing more than a mere slave to the Brotherhood!"

James felt the haze of hatred hit him and he lost his cool and attacked, but his wounds and pain stopped him cold and he fell short and hit a nearby tree and fell to the ground, but not before turning to face the Defias forces who were now ready to kill him.

But then a loud roar was heard over the tree tops and both he and the Defias looked to see something massive flying over them quickly, it was unlike anything any of them had seen before, it had flown low enough for them to see that it was some sort of metallic flying ship. That ship slowed down a bit as a side of it opened and six figures came out from it and landed on the ground as the ship moved away.

The first five figures were recognized easily by the wounded Royal Guardsman, three of them were Night Elves as he had seen a number of them before in Stormwind before as well as those traveling adventurers of their race who came to the city from time to time. The lone Night Elf male appeared to be a Druid, while the next was a Hunter as there was a large wolf near her and growling at the Defias, the other was an archer as well, no doubt a Sentinel from what he had heard of them. The other to his surprise was a female Blood Elf of all things, he had never encountered one himself before but had heard the stories about them and their new alliance with the Horde, what could one of their kind be doing here of all places?

However he noted despite his pained state that the three women were wearing the same type of armor that as far as he knew was not made by either the Alliance or the Horde. Where did they get that anyway?

It was the last figure that got the attention of James and the Defias very easily. It was human, but far larger than any human being he knew of. The being wore green and black armor that looked very out worldly in his eyes and no doubt to the eyes of the Defias forces as well, and a golden face plate that hid the face of the being before them all. The armored giant was armed with a pair of devices that seemed to resemble guns though of an entirely different design that James had never seen before. There were nothing like them in his memory when he had seen the gnomes and dwarves carry guns as well as his human kin. There on the hip of the armored being were a pair of swords that seemed very different from the swords that he had seen before.

The Defias barely had time to react to the sudden changes as the two Night Elf women quickly fired arrows right into their ranks with very fast reflexes, killing four of them in rapid succession, the Blood Elf female took out several throwing knives and hit some other Defias in vital areas of their body while the Druid took the form of a massive bear, roared out and charged into the Defias with the Wolf next to him. Then several roar roars were heard as James saw the giant armored being raise it's unknown gun and without warning, the weapon fired several times, releasing some sort of flying metal objects out the side as it did so.

That was all James would see as he felt himself lose consciousness, he only hoped that what he had seen was no dream or illusion as darkness came to finally claim him.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Okay, this wraps up the first part of what I have decided as a four part story arc for this story of mine. As you can guess, the two weeks of training under the Spartan's belt will be shown in the coming chapters when he puts away his guns and goes to close combat fighting when the time comes. And as you might have read, Erin Kaelyn, Sandra, Jaina, and even Aegwynn finally got to see John not only with the helmet of the MJOLNIR mark VI off, but the armor itself as well, though thankfully he was wearing some clothing as well.

Jaina naturally does not see the Chief in the training bit but that will be remedied soon enough in the coming chapters, so that might be interesting. I will admit that I might have gone a bit too far with the whole thing with the Chief's appearance outside of the MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor but I can bet that the images are going to have some very interesting ramifications in the soon to expand storyline.

As for many of the readers I will plan to introduce some of the new characters that I introduced in the poll at some point in the arc itself, though there will only be two or three of them in the beginning of the story that will involve Varian's son Anduin Wynn. They will help the Spartan in finding the young man once the Spartan goes out of his way to find Varian's son as well as his Defias kidnappers, as to who they will be, that is a secret I intend to keep until the next part of the story.

As before, please send me comments and constructive critiques along with your reviews. Flames naturally will be ignored and thrown out the window so don't bother sending them at all to me all right?

Also, I want to point out that I actually used a slightly accelerated time table for this story to make King Varian and Tirion Fordring appear in the story, and keep in mind, it's been a month and two weeks after the Chief and company make their trip to Azeroth, so a LOT can happen in a month and two weeks.


	9. Chapter 9

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: Again with the disclaimer….I don't own WoW or Halo, all right?

Chapter 7

Part 2

Royal Rescue…

( ): Thoughts

…

Author's Notice:

I recently realized that there might have been some errors in the previous chapter that deals with the appearance of King Varian Wrynn and Tirion Fordring. The reason that they are there in the story is that in the month and two weeks that the Spartan stayed on the Dawn to fortify the place as well as train himself, the events that happened to both men such as the return of Varian to the throne of Stormwind and the slaying of Onyxia, and Tirion's return from exile and avenging his son to soon found the Argent Dawn has happened while the Spartan has been alone and doing his work on the Dawn.

As to how Varian found out about the Spartan, let's keep in mind that if we were to use real time, it takes quite a while to get from one continent to the other, plus all the traveling inland as well. So when he finally gets to the throne he then receives the information. At the same time, Tirion has now avenged his son's death and has begun to rebuilt the Knights of the Silver Hand and later work with the Argent Dawn, and right now is with the Alliance discussing the Argent's place in the coming events of the world.

I hope that this is enough to explain things for those who have read the chapter and might have some level of confusion over the events of the story so far.

Anyway, on with the story!

…

In the Albatross…

John looked at the young man who was currently resting in the cargo hanger of the heavy drop ship. The man had been removed of his armor and he was quickly wrapped in bandages and given some antibiotics to counter any possible infections to his body, he was also treated with biofoam to help his wounds heal better. Thankfully none of his internal organs were badly damaged, so he was not in danger of organ damage.

His armor was damaged and his sword was notched, but the gear was still very much usable. For now the man was sleeping and will be waking up soon enough. The Spartan then directed his attention to his companions who were currently resting from the battle that they had taken part in. The Spartan recalled just how shocked the Defias members were when he and the others showed up and began to slaughter them. The attack was so unexpected that by the time the Defias could react, two thirds of them were already dead.

At the moment, Kaelyn and Sandra had recovered all of their used arrows, happy that the arrows that they had used were still in very good condition so they didn't have to buy any new ones yet. Erin herself had also recovered most of her throwing knives, as for White Claw, the wolf was lying next to it's obvious owner. The women and the Druid had also began to salvage the items from the dead Defias members. They were able to salvage a number of coins, several simple weapons, cloth and a few other things. The Spartan looked at the piles of items and sighed a bit. It was not much but selling the simple items would net some usable coin.

Salvaging from the dead is an old time practice that existed in the days of humanity on Earth. While some societies forbade taking the items of those dead soldiers who were on their armies while allowing their soldiers to loot the dead and salvage what they could, others were more practical in such matters and stated that using any weapon no matter who used it before was a good thing. For him, salvaging the weapons and ammunition of slain UNSC Marines and military personnel had always been hard to do and somewhat distasteful, and the same could be said for his fellow soldiers and Spartans. But they all knew that in battle now was not time to be squeamish when it was time to fight.

Besides that, it was far better than letting good ammunition and weapons go to waste, and they were honoring their slain comrades by ensuring that they were able to fight the enemy and kill them effectively with what they were able to salvage. And when they salvaged weapons from the slain soldiers of the Covenant they were more than ready to give the enemy a good taste of their own medicine.

He then spoke to the others to see just how they were doing.

"Everyone of you all right?"

The group nodded as Sandra spoke to the Spartan.

"We're fine, and the salvage can be handy, however the real question is what were those Defias doing chasing a member of the Stormwind Royal Guard? I know that the Defias hate Stormwind and it's allies, but they had never taken any serious action as they avoid both the People's Militia and the Stormwind City Guard as well since they still are at a bit of a disadvantage in comparison to the Alliance military, that is until they get that super weapon of theirs ready for battle with the Alliance. So why would they attack a troop of Stormwind Royal Guardsmen?"

The Spartan already had an answer to that.

"The only reason anyone attacks a convoy of Guardsmen, is if they were trying to capture someone of great importance to their enemies."

Kaelyn quickly understood that and nodded.

"So they kidnapped the person these Guardsmen were escorting, but who is that person anyhow?"

"The only person who can answer that is the Guardsman we have rescued, judging from his insignia, I can wager a guess that he's a high ranking officer in the Guard. He should be waking up soon enough so we can get some answers from him."

That was when Cortana appeared in the nearby holo-tank and spoke to the group.

"He's waking up already, I think now is a very good time for us to get the much needed answers from the man and figure out just what happened here, there is one question though, what do we do with the bodies outside, that many dead is bound to attract attention."

The group looked at the bodies and John replied.

"We'll let either the land or anyone else deal with that, we need answers so let's get to it."

The group arrived in the area where the wounded and treated Guardsman was and sure enough the man recovered, he began to shake his head and seem to come to life.

…

James shook his head and began to open his eyes, half expecting himself to be in the afterlife, but instead of clear blue skies, clouds, the smell of nature and peace in the air, he found himself looking at a grey, metallic roof that had lights and some sort of humming sound. James felt a dull ache in his body and turned to looked about, a haze of pain hit him a bit and he closed his eyes and managed to will it back, and the very second he opened his eyes, he found himself staring right back at his own reflection which was on a golden visor. The Royal Guardsman quickly recoiled in shock and shouted.

"By the Holy Light!"

James moved back hit the nearby wall with a thump and he groaned a bit, he looked to see that what he saw was indeed the same black and green armored behemoth of a being, and when he looked around, he found himself being surrounded by the four elves he had seen before, the Druid seemed a bit amused by what he saw, the Blood Elf seemed to very amused as well, while the female Night Elf Hunter and Archer were calm and having curious expressions. He looked about and spoke.

"Where am I?"

That was when the armored being spoke.

"You happen to be in my ship, you happen to have a name apart from your rank as Captain?"

James quickly narrowed his eyes and his military trained senses told him to reach for his sword or his dagger, but he found none of his weapons near him, just as he realized that he was only having bandages on his body and not his armor at all. The being seemed to recognize that just what was it he was truing to do and spoke out once more in a voice of authority.

"If your looking for your weapons, then they happen to be elsewhere at the moment, if we were your enemies, I would not have bothered to save you and heal you of your injuries. Now then, who are you?"

James saw that this stranger meant it and seeing that he was indeed alive due to their rescue of him, he relaxed himself and replied.

"I am James Hansen of the 31st Stormwind Royal Guard detachment, I have given you my name and you no doubt know my rank, so who are you?"

The Spartan nodded and replied.

"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, of the UNSC? And before you ask, the first four words are my rank, the word and the numbers are my name and recognition number, and the last are the group I belong to."

James was confused but said nothing as the Spartan then gestured to his companions, starting with the Archer, she quickly recognized what the being was doing and she quickly spoke to him with a character of a veteran soldier as he was.

"I am Commander Kaelyn Nightwalker of the Night Elf Sentinels."

Sandra decided to speak next.

"I am Sandra Moon feather, former member of the Sentinels and now a roving Hunter."

Erin then smirked and replied.

"I am Erin Firestar, Blood Elf Rogue and a former Sorceress of the Alliance."

Jarrod then replied.

"I am Jarrod, Druid and part of the force under Commander Nightwalker."

James looked at the group before him and tried to figure out what to make of this whole situation that he found himself in, but his thoughts were quickly focusing right back on his last memories and he tried to get up, but any attempt to do so was stopped by the Spartan who pushed him back gently, but that gentle nudge had enough force to stop him cold and send him back on the bed with some force. James was stunned as he had never been pushed that hard before, but he quickly recovered and glared at the armored giant as he spoke without any hesitation.

"Don't try and stop me! I have to do my duty and save the Prince!"

The Spartan then spoke.

"The Prince? You were escorting the Prince of your kingdom?"

James nodded, realizing that in his desperation he had told them just who he was escorting, normally that would have been a breach of protocol in every fashion, but he knew that if they had rescued him, then they were not the enemy and he could at least tell them what had happened.

"Yes, my unit was escorting Prince Anduin Wrynn when he went to the town of Lakeshire to help check it's current status and see if there was any way he could help the people there. After we were done, my unit and the Prince headed back, we were suddenly ambushed by those Defias bastards, we fought our way through the first wave with half my unit protecting the Prince, and the other half, led by me fought to clear the way. Then two larger bands came….and my unit got separated from the others, we fought as best we could….but we….we failed, I was ordered by the Prince to inform his father, I wanted to save him."

James felt his shame increase even more at the memory of what had happened and that was something that the Spartan saw easily from the man's eyes and his posture. The man thought he had failed his duty and he was ashamed of not doing everything he could to save the Prince as well as his comrades. The Spartan had seen this happen many times before in the wars he had been part of and knew that it was a powerful blow to most new men. But he already had an idea as he spoke in a voice of authority once more.

"Suck it up soldier, feeling guilt and shame is not going to bring your Prince back."

James looked at the Spartan with anger and replied.

"I know that!"

"Good, then get yourself together, because you're going to rescue him, and you are not going alone."

James was surprised by that and so were the other members of the Spartan's companions; they had expected that the Spartan would help the person as the Spartan was trained as a defender of humanity in his work, so it would make sense that he would also defend the humans in Azeroth as well, they just didn't expect him to agree so quickly without getting any more details on what he was getting into. James himself had no idea just what to make of this being, however it was then that he recalled a rumor that had gone on in the barracks days before he and his unit had shipped out to protect Prince Anduin on his mission, the rumor came from the ambassador that had arrived from Kalimdor.

The rumor had spoke of some human warrior from beyond the stars that had technology that dwarfed anything the gnomes and the dwarves, as well as his own fellow humans. And the humans who he was part of had left their home-world and established an empire that had over eight hundred worlds. And the last part of the rumor was that this human warrior wore advanced armor that was black, and green, with a helmet that had a golden plate that hid his face from view, only allowing one to see one's own face.

He like the rest of his unit thought that the rumor was nothing more than a simple case of the ambassador getting drunk on another of those spirits that skewered his perceptions. Now he realized that he was looking at that warrior in question.

"Wait….you're that warrior that Ambassador Durnhelm met in Kalimdor aren't you? You're that Spartan that we heard about!"

That was when a nearby circular short pillar made from metal and had a blue glowing circle there in the middle suddenly glowed brightly and to the utter surprise of the Royal Guardsman, a small human female figure that was made from glowing blue light appeared nearby and the thing or whatever it was spoke in what appeared to be a rather humored tone.

"It seems that you've just become rather popular John, no doubt that this is the result of what High Priestess Tyrande had spoke of before. Oh and before you ask who and what I am Captain James Hansen, my name is Cortana and as to what I am, it's kind of complicated so you can call me a spirit if you like, I happen to be a close friend and ally of the Spartan as well, so what you're Ambassador said was not a rumor, but the truth."

James was speechless as he looked at the woman, then back to the Spartan and then to the others. He had no idea what he was going to do now with what was happening before him, but he then looked at the Spartan and spoke to him seriously.

"You are going to help me rescue the Prince? Why would you do that since you want to remain a neutral party?"

John already had an answer to that.

"Because a child is in danger, and no amount of neutrality is worth the life and freedom of a child."

"Prince Anduin is no child Spartan; he took down a number of those Defias bastards on his own with his bow."

"Then he deserves my respect for his bravery, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Defias have dark intentions for the young man. The fact that you're convoy was ambushed and he was taken tells me that this was a well planned ambush, the fact that they attacked with large numbers and out in the open means that they knew who you were escorting and who they were kidnapping. That means that someone or a group of people in Stormwind helped them know which route your force took and their increased numbers tell me that they were also told how many you were as well. You need all the help you can get the Prince and to help expose the traitor in your city's government, and there is no doubt that if they knew that they have the Prince, they will take him deeper into their territory and you would be hard pressed to find him again, and this would give the Defias Brotherhood a serious advantage to attack Stormwind itself."

James was silent and had to admit that the Spartan was indeed right, if the Defias had the Prince in their hands, this would give them a powerful amount of leverage over the whole of Stormwind, and this would ensure that their operations would go unhindered as they would possibly kill the young Prince if they were threatened. James also knew that it would throw King Varian in an utter rage and grief as well. The Royal Guard knew that the King had suffered already the death of his beloved wife due to the actions of those who were the founders of the Defias….to lose his only son to them would truly be a blow to the King.

And what the Spartan said about a traitor or even a group of traitors in Stormwind had a deadly meaning, if there indeed was a traitor or a group of traitors in the Capital City itself, then there was a great possibility that this same traitor or group of traitors might had a hand in kidnapping the King in the past.

James knew that he now had only one choice.

"All right I will accept your help, but how do I even know where they had gone with the Prince? Those Defias bastards might have spread all over the place by now and who knows which group has the Prince?"

Cortana grinned at that part as she already had a very good idea where the Defias groups had gone.

"I can help you there easily, I happen to have located a number of the Defias groups right now in my sights. One group, a rather large one appears to be heading into a place that seems to have little sunlight, I couldn't get an exact visual due to some form of interference with regular visual sensors, but I have been able to track them with thermal sensors as well. I'm brining up the map right now to show the location of the group."

Sure enough, Cortana revealed the map and showed just where the group was and Sandra recognized that location easily enough.

"That location is Duskwood, I've been there a few times more than not, not the best place to be since the sun never shines there and the town of Darkshire there is constantly under siege, sometimes the Horde would send forces there but not large ones to say the least. The area is surrounded by a variety of creatures, most if not all of them hostile to anything else that moves. But the Defias do have a presence there so it would make sense that they would move there as well."

John turned to James and he nodded as well.

'We know of the Defias presence, but the Stormwind City Guard and the People's Militia have many other cells of Defias resistance to deal with in their own lands so we never managed to send and expedition to eliminate them. Besides, casualties would be high there, since we don't have just the Defias to contend with. The Night Watch are doing their best to hold the line there, but they not only have to contend with the Defias forces but the Worgen and the Undead as well, we have nothing on either the Worgen or how the Undead came there, but we have our thoughts on the matter."

The Spartan then turned to Cortana.

'What about the other groups?"

"One is branching off and heading deeper into the forest here, at least a good distance away from our current location, they are fairly large at the moment, but I do have visual data on them, apparently they are escorting a number of Stormwind Royal Guardsmen, no doubt to use them as slave labor or as hostages, if we rescue the Guardsmen under their watch they knew which group has the Prince."

"What of the other group?"

"They also are in Duskwood's location, they appear to be smaller and therefore are more mobile, they may have the Prince under their control and that would explain their smaller size since they would need more mobility, but considering the dangers there in that location, I have my doubts on that matter for the time being."

The Spartan weighed his options and nodded as he got his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle and his Katanas as well as a number of Frag Grenades along with a set of Flashbang Grenades as well as some sort of kit, afterwards he took out a pair of communication units that he quickly programmed into his MJOLNIR's COM system, as well as a TACPAD that he quickly linked to Cortana so she could easily feed tactical information to the rest of the team apart from him in order to coordinate their attacks and movements, he also took out a pair of military issue binoculars and carried them with him for a more practical use. He then turned to the others and spoke.

"We'll go to the group we can see, if the Guardsmen know which group has the Prince, then all the better, we'll deal with the two other groups soon enough. We have to visually identify the Prince as well."

He then handed the binoculars to the Stormwind Guardsman and explained to the man just what was it he was giving him.

"This is a set of military issue binoculars, when we come close enough to any of the Defias groups, you will have to visually identify of they have the Prince with them."

James nodded and decided to get dressed, thankfully the medical attention given to him was enough to heal him well and allow him to function as he should, he then got on his armor on and quickly directed his attention to his comrades, if they were rescued, they were going to be able to help rescue the Prince and return to Stormwind safely, and he was ready to receive any punishment from the King for what had happened to his son.

He was a bit angry at himself but decided to focus on the here and now. Once he focused himself, he joined the others and to his surprise as soon as they stepped out of the massive ship, the Spartan turned and nodded slightly, the massive ship suddenly shimmered and began to fade away right before the eyes of the Guardsman, even the others were surprised at how quickly the ship vanished from sight. It was then that the Spartan gave them all these units that would be easily fit into their ears, they looked at him with some level of surprise and he replied.

"These are short range tactical communications radio units, these have been logged to tap into my Armor's communication systems so I can communicate with you, it has a range of at least four to five miles maximum, this way we don't reveal ourselves to the enemy we happen to be tracking, whisper into them if you want, we can hear that clearly enough."

The group took the devices and placed them on as the Spartan quickly guided them to the exact location of the Defias group that they were tracking using the orbital coordination from the satellite that was passed to them Cortana herself who remained in the Albatross to act as the quarter back for the operation itself.

It took some time as they moved as quickly and as quietly as they could through the forests to track their quarry. It naturally didn't take long for the group to spot the enemy forces and both John and James looked at the group with the Guardsman using the binoculars while the Spartan used the built in ones in his MJOLNIR Mar VI. They were quickly able to spot that the group indeed had a number of survivors from James' unit, at least a dozen or so, many were wounded while some were not too badly hurt, they still had their armor on, but their weapons were placed far away from them and they were tied up with a number of the Defias watching them. Occasionally the Defias would shout threats and insults that the prisoners and attack them with anger and arrogance. The sight of his comrades, both male and female being maltreated like that was enough to ager James but the Spartan held him back and silently told him to keep calm.

John spotted a number of roving sentries around the area and he quickly formulated a plan and he then turned to Erin and spoke quietly to her.

"Can you eliminate their sentries quietly?"

The Blood Elf smiled, eager to show the Spartan her skills as she nodded.

"I can, this armor might weigh me down a bit, but I can manage."

"Good, as soon as you eliminate them you contact us quietly, take these, toss them into the camp's outer perimeter and if possible, right in the midst of the Defias, this should distract the Defias to allow us to attack them and slaughter them before they can recover from the shock of the weapons going off. Make sure to cover your eyes and ears from the blasts of both the grenades all right?"

He gave the Flashbang Grenades to Erin and then showing her how to use the detonation systems of the Flashbang Grenades, once she was able to grasp it, she took them and she was off quickly relying on her training and skills to sneak into the area. While she was doing that, the Spartan turned to both Sandra and Kaelyn to give them their own set of orders to follow.

"As soon as Erin uses those Grenades, take out any of the Defias sentries that are near the Guardsmen, once that is done, we close the gap and take out any other Defias forces you see that are in reach of your weapons."

Both Night Elf women nodded as John then turned to Jarrod.

"Jarrod, do what you did before when we rescued James, but reserve as much of your magic as you can since we need you to heal them as soon as we get them."

Jarrod nodded as the Spartan directed his attention to the Royal Guardsman.

"Stay close and cut down the enemy that you can reach, stay out of my field of fire however, one misstep and you can end up being shot by me, understand?"

James nodded and soon the others waited while John monitored Erin and spoke to all of them silently.

"One more thing, if we can capture one of them alive, then we interrogate the person, the kit I have has a number of drugs that might loosen their tongues a bit."

"Understood."

…

The First Defias sentry had no time to react when Erin moved quickly from the bushes and introduced her sword right into his stomach, aiming for the part where his light leather armor was open and would allow her a quick killing strike into his vitals, any attempt to scream was silenced as Erin covered his mouth before he could say anything, his attempt to stab her was blocked by her armor and the assault vest. In fact she didn't feel anything, she looked at the man and saw the fire of life die out from his eyes. As soon as she was sure that the man was dead she moved the body into the brush and quickly moved to the next target, moving quietly as she could, she was a skilled rogue but kept in mind that the Defias were just as capable as she was. She quickly moved a nearby tree and hid herself into the bushes as another Defias sentry came nearby and she quickly moved behind the female sentry, she ducked and avoided the attack from the Defias' attack and introduced her other sword into her stomach while her main sword slashed at the neck, cutting the throat quickly.

Erin removed the swords she had and quickly grabbed the dead woman's body and dragged her into the brush to avoid alerting the others. She then moved to attack the very next target she could see. The target in question happened to be a man armed with a crossbow, she then took a small metal ball and quickly timed it right and tossed it right in front of the sentry while keeping out of sight. The man moved to look and this allowed Erin to take out one of her throwing knives and quickly fire it with her elven speed. The weapon quickly flew in the air and cut the throat of the man and hitting the voice box as well. This was more than enough to wound the man seriously as Erin quickly moved in and grabbed the man and knocked him down, as he was still bleeding by the neck and she pinned him down until he died from blood loss.

She moved away doing the same thing in hiding the body and moving to the next target and this one was a female Defias armed with a net gun and a short sword, a bit harder a target but not enough to trouble the Rogue as she moved quietly and quickly, she soon reached her foe and then hit her with a swift kick to the stomach and before the Defias woman could react and shout out an alarm, she moved and struck a blow to the windpipe, making the woman choke and she then sent a powerful cut that decapitated the woman.

This was the last sentry as she spoke silently to the others while keeping an eye on the Defias group who thankfully had not noted something was off around them, either they were not expecting company or they were too arrogant to care, either way in the mind of the Blood Elf, they were all going to be dead soon.

"This is Erin, all the sentries are out."

It took a moment or two before she heard the Spartan's voice.

"Nicely done, are you ready for phase two?"

Erin smiled at that, happy for the praise given to her by her savior.

"Yes, tell me when you are already?"

"We are, toss them in."

Erin then did what the Spartan showed her in how to use the devices in her hands and as soon as she was done, she quickly tossed the weapons into the Defias camp while managing to keep herself hidden, she quickly closed her eyes and covered her ears as per the instructions of the Spartan.

…

The results of the detonation of the Flashbang Grenades were obvious as the once shaded location was suddenly bathed in blinding light which was soon followed by a very loud boom that was more than enough to make anyone cry out in pain form the massive audio assault and couple that with the massive blinding light was a powerful visual assault as well. Erin, Jarrod, Kaelyn, Sandra, and James had enough warning to cover their eyes and ears due to the Spartan's warning as the Master Chief's own MJOLNIR quickly reacted to the detonation of the Flashbang Grenades, allowing him to still see and hear without any interruptions.

The same couldn't be said for the Defias as they had no expected this sudden and unexpected event and as such, they were completely disoriented as they milled about, this was the opening that the Spartan and his companions were waiting for as the Spartan quickly moved in while being supported by Kaelyn and Sandra who quickly unleashed their arrows in rapid succession. Several of the Defias were quickly killed with arrow shafts buried in their bodies, neck, and head, just as the Spartan used the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and cut down more of the enemy as they were still reeling from the effects of the Flashbang Grenades.

James, Jarrod, White Claw and Erin were quick to attack in battle as well, the Druid took the form of a Bear and roared into battle and began to tear into the forces before him, the Blood Elf Rogue moved in and began to shred through the enemy before her, quickly using her throwing knives to wound and distract their foes while the wolf attacked those it's master directed it to attack, the Royal Guardsman roared out in triumph and vengeance as he swung his broadsword and began to cut down the Defias.

The Defias eventually recovered from the shock, but by the time they did recover, many of them were killed or severely wounded. Several of them were easily cut down by the weapons of the Spartan and they were bleeding profusely from bullet wounds as their armor stood no chance against the attacks of the Spartan, the leader of the bunch, a rather tall and burly male managed to recover and fire a blunderbuss of all things to the Spartan. The weapon was an effective tool in battle and if properly used as well as being in the hands of a good marksman could be effective at certain ranges. The Defias group leader had no doubt in his mind that at this range, this thing would be hit one way or the other.

However, the problem for the blunderbuss was that by comparison to the UNSC's weapons technology it was remarkably primitive. Humanity in the Spartan's own world had already perfected the use of various types of firearms when they had also used muskets and various types of old style guns, and instead of seeing those as the pinnacle of technology, they delved even further, testing, experimenting, discovering, and improving on the designs and uses of guns, gunpowder and more. Over the past many years until the 26th Century, the guns of the UNSC were considered as practical and reliable in the eyes of their makers and were millennia ahead of the earliest firearms. Compared to the blunderbuss, the basic M6 Magnum series was already at it's apex of power as a firearm even though by Covenant standards it was primitive and worthless. Which was why the round of the blunderbuss only flattened on the shield and made it glow and crackle, but the bullet did not have either the speed, or the mass, to even take a millimeter from the Spartan's shield gauge.

This became obvious to the Defias leader as he tried to take out his sword and toss away his blunderbuss, but the Spartan's superior speed and reflexes allowed him to come close and smash his Assault Rifle's butt hard into the stomach, forcing the man to his knees in pain, John quickly struck with cobra like swiftness at his target's arms with his kicks, hitting with only enough force to break the bones of his chosen target without killing the man quickly.

"AAAAAARGGGGGGGGG!"

The man screamed in utter pain as the last of his gang were soon dealt with by the rest of the Spartan group and to prevent the man from escaping, the Spartan quickly attacked both legs in the thigh areas, breaking the bones there as well, crippling the man very effectively. The Master Chief looked about and saw that the attack had gone off without a hitch and that to his mind was good thing since the whole attack was planned on the fly and plans made that way usually didn't go according to plan.

He turned to see James cutting the ropes that held his comrades down with a knife and he looked to see that Jarrod had reverted back to his Night Elf form and began to use his magic to heal their wounds, he then turned to Kaelyn, Sandra, and Erin as he spoke to them.

"Search the bodies carefully, see if we can find anything there that can help us."

The three Elves nodded and it was not long for them to find a number of items, some were junk and not worth much attention, the rest however would prove useful, there were several pouches of coins as well as some weapons and a store of bullets and as well as some net rounds, along with a number of healing potions. The Spartan took everything into account, distributed the coins evenly through their value, took a potion for analysis at a later date as well as the other weapons. He gave the potions to James to give to his fellow Guardsmen. This would help ensure that Jarrod had enough magic for any other emergency that might crop up.

James was happy for the treatment and quickly looked at his comrades who were recovering from the shock of those devices that the Spartan and his comrades had used to disorient the Defias in the start of their attack, he was not questioning their effectiveness to say the least, but it naturally took a while to recover from what had happened as he had never seen such devices that could unleash such a powerful blast of sound and light at the same time. As soon as his companions were freed, he spoke to them.

"Are all of you all right?"

The others nodded as a female officer spoke to him.

"We're fine Captain, bruised and wounded but thankfully not dead, who are they?"

James already had a very accurate idea on who his fellow officer was referring to and replied.

'They saved my life when the Defias tried to kill me to prevent me from informing Stormwind of the kidnapping of the Prince, and they are here to help us locate the Prince, but have any of you seen where these bastards tried to take the Prince?"

One of the men nodded and spoke.

"Yes, when they managed to overwhelm us, they threatened to kill us all if Prince Anduin would not surrender peacefully, we tried to tell the Prince not to surrender to them, but he agreed as long as we were not harmed. The Defias took those of us who were not yet dead or too badly wounded and then we were separated from the others and brought here. The other half went to Duskwood, no doubt to hide in one of their hidden camps. But they knew the Prince and this leader of this band was talking with the others as well, so he might know."

The Defias leader, unable to move or fight however was defiant as ever as he spoke with venom and hate in his voice.

"I will never tell you Alliance dogs anything!"

That however changed as the Spartan grabbed him by the collar and easily lifted the man and he spoke seriously as he pulled the man close to his face, allowing him to look at his very own reflection off his polarized visor.

"You will even if you want to or not, I will make sure of that."

Before the leader of the slain band could say anything, the Spartan put him down and took out the kit, and removed a syringe which was surrounded by seven more like it. This was filled with a powerful chemical cocktail that was by all accounts a powerful truth serum. This mix was certified to work on human beings and was quite effective when administered in the right dosage. This was developed by ONI and used to be exclusive to field agents on covert missions, but was soon issued to the UNSC forces if they needed vital intelligence in a hurry and getting it via satellite or COM system was considered too risky. There were some variants of the truth serum that was designed to work the biology of the member races of Covenant on the rare moments that the UNSC managed to obtain Covenant prisoners, of course there was no way they developed a variant to be used on Brutes as it was considered nigh impossible to take a Brute prisoner for any period of time.

The Spartan took out his sword and then cut the man's face, eliciting a scream of pain. The cut was not deep enough to kill, but to drawn out blood which the Spartan took some samples of and placed it before him and allowed Cortana to scan it.

This to make an on the field verification of the person's biological chemistry to ensure that he or she didn't have any possible allergic reactions to the truth serum since that could become rather problematic. There was always a chance that they would have such a reaction and would die of the dosage was too high, and they would not be very coherent if the dosage of the truth serum was too low.

It was not long before Cortana spoke to the Chief.

"I'm done with the blood analysis, he is human and has no viable markers in his genes that suggest any possible allergic reactions to the serum, go for it John, the sooner we find out which of the two groups the Prince is in and where they are going then even better."

John nodded and quickly jabbed the syringe into the man and injected the serum. The others watched in surprise as they had no idea what was it that the Spartan had used on the Defias leader. The man groaned and seemed to suddenly be in a daze. The Spartan examined him carefully, meticulously looking for signs that told him that the drug cocktail was taking full effect. As soon as he was sure that the man was completely under the drug's control, he spoke to James.

"Go ahead and ask him what you need to know, the drugs will last at least a full hour or so."

Kaelyn was confused a bit and spoke.

"What was that you injected into him?"

"UNSC issued Truth serum, it's a powerful cocktail of drugs and chemicals that forces the person to tell the absolute truth. Usually issued only to ONI field agents, it was made part of the UNSCDF field kit if getting on the ground intel from living beings is better than getting intelligence from electronic sources for different reason. You have to be careful of the dosage of course since you might end up killing the subject."

The others thought about that and Erin grinned at that, interested on how she could get her hands on such a drug, which could be effective if used in the right situation and on the right subject. She however decided to hold the thought for now as she was still not sure just how the drug cocktail was made. James decided to speak to the man and get the information that they needed to rescue the Prince.

"Where is the Prince being taken?"

"He is being taken to our base of Moonbrooke to be taken into the hidden passageway into the Deadmines, we would send a smaller but large enough escort with more speed to take him there are insurance to keep the King from trying something rash."

James' eyes widened at that and so did the other member of his unit as he spoke once more.

"Why is he being taken there to the Deadmines?"

"The Deadmines is where we have our main base of operations and where our leaders are."

"Is Edwin VanCleef there?"

"Yes…"

"Who else are there with him?"

"The others are Sneed, Marisa du'Paige, Gilnid, Mr. Smite, Captain Greenskin; they are there as well as our leader Edwin."

"What are they doing at the Deadmines?"

"Researching on new technology to destroy Stormwind and to finally complete their newest weapon, a weapon to destroy Stormwind City itself and avenge the wrongs done to the Brotherhood because of the corrupt House of Nobles. Once it is fully completed and ready to be unleashed. Once that is done, the Defias will finally have it's revenge on Stormwind for it's crimes on the Brotherhood."

That was enough to grab the full attention of the Stormwind Royal Guardsmen but James motioned them to be silent as he spoke to the drugged man.

"What is this weapon?"

"Something from…the First War, built with the aid of the….Goblins we have under our employ. An Ogre Juggernaut, with better armor and cannons to lay siege to Stormwind City by cutting off all trade, depriving the city of the riches that rightly belong to the old Stonemason's Guild. With that, the Defias shall rule both the land and the sea, and we will bring Stormwind to it's knees."

That enraged the Royal Guardsmen and it took a great deal of self control for James himself not to run the man through with his sword, he knew that he needed to get as much information as he could in order to finally expose the true extent of the Defias Brotherhood's plans for Stormwind and it's people.

"Are there people in Stormwind that are helping the Defias?"

"Hartargan Stark, our best Tinker and advisor to our leader has relatives in Stormwind who inform us of all caravans that come to and from Stormwind. We also have a Noble in your employ….Baron Lucian Dunmoore, who also helps funnel supplies and plans that are not accessible to us."

James finally asked the final question that preyed on his mind.

"Did these allies of yours in Stormwind have anything to do with the previous kidnapping of King Varian Wrynn?"

"Yes."

That was all the James needed to know and he looked at the Master Chief who was also looking at the still drugged man. The Spartan looked at James and he could see the emotions in the face and eyes of the Royal Guardsman and he understood them easily enough and he replied.

"You learned everything you need to know?"

"Yes I have."

"Then let's not waste time, he's of no use to us now so there's no reason that he stays alive."

James didn't need any other invitation and quickly cut down the man by decapitating him with one clean stroke of the sword. Kaelyn and the other Night Elves were not happy with that, but they could understand the Captain's anger, learning just how far the Defias would go was more than enough to convince them that this was inevitable. Erin herself couldn't help but agree with the human Captain's actions.

As soon as the head of the Defias Captain hit the ground, The Spartan looked at the Royal Guard and their Captain. He knew that time was of the essence, now that they had narrowed the group that had the Prince with them, they needed to move at all speed to intercept the Defias forces before they could escape with the Prince and bring him in the hands of the leaders of the Brotherhood.

"We need to hurry and make our move soon, the longer we delay the more likely they will be able to get the Prince into the hands of their leaders, a small team must go back to the capital and inform your king of what is going on as well as give him the information concerning what has been learned. The rest will move to rescue the Prince, let's hurry it up."

James nodded and in a few minutes after cleaning up the mess and hiding the bodies of the slain Defias members, a small band was sent back to Stormwind while the others were soon on the move with their Captain as well as the Spartan and his comrades into Duskwood with Cortana now updating them on the location of the Defias group that they now knew had the Prince with them.

…

In Duskwood…

The Spartan was currently in the lead with the Night Elves behind to him as well as the Blood Elf, while the Stormwind Royal Guard followed suit, they needed to move as quickly as they could possibly manage and since the Spartan somehow was able to locate the group that had their Prince in their clutches, they were willing to follow him and his group in order to finally free their Prince from the grasp of the Defias no matter what would happen.

Kaelyn, Sandra, White Claw, and Jarrod strained their senses as they knew that such a place like this would have many hidden dangers. Sandra knew these lands well as she had been here before on a simple trip, but that simple trip had been more than enough to tell her that something was deeply wrong about this place. She had never bother with the history of the land as she was only interested in looking at with an eye on the ground so to speak. She had heard rumors and stories from the past, but she had neither the time nor the inclination to find out more of those said tales as well.

Now she wished she had listened, something about the darkness had bothered her, which in itself was surprising she was a Night Elf and her kind were able to operate well in the dark. This was an unnatural darkness and that was what worried her a good deal. She could see the very same thoughts in her other Night Elf comrades as they continued to move about. The ones who were not fully affected apart from James and his forces were the Spartan and the Blood Elf herself as they moved through the location.

Kaelyn focused her hearing and prayed silently to Elune for help in this odd and seemingly cursed forest, she had heard of places in her own land cursed by Fel magic by the Legion and more. And she had seen them for herself on more than one instance. Yet this place was different, seemingly older and more….unnerving.

She turned as they stopped and she was greeted by the voice of the Spartan.

"Are you all right?"

She turned to look at him and saw that he was indeed looking at her, even though she couldn't see his face, she heard in his voice that he was indeed concerned for her, and that made her spirits rise up even more as she nodded.

"I am fine."

"I hope so, I need you to focus all of your skill and attention here and now, do you understand me?"

Kaelyn nodded eagerly as John looked at Sandra next as he also spoke.

"Are you all right?"

The Hunter nodded and replied.

"I've been here before….it still unnerves me a bit, but I'll be all right."

The Spartan gave a nod, getting one from Jarrod as well, showing that the Druid was all right and he looked at Erin who grinned and replied.

"I'm in good straits as it is, this place will work well to my sneaking about and taking out the targets."

With that the group moved on, they needed to cover as much ground as they could before the group of the Defias who had the Prince managed to escape from them.

The Spartan stopped and looked to see someone moving towards them while they were currently moving towards the location of the next Defias force that they were going to deal with. So far, their force had been moving for a while now and thankfully there had been few attacks as they steered clear of possible dangers thanks to his MJOLNIR's sensors and that of the sensors on the Satellite that was being used by Cortana who was still in the Albatross and coordinating them.

He looked with the built in binoculars of his MJOLNIR Mark VI and saw someone wearing what appeared to be heavy plate armor and mail as well, the only kind of beings who wore that were usually elite heavy shock troops. He looked a bit more and quickly noted that the person before them was a female and definitely human from the looks of it. The woman appeared to have red hair in a series of braids, she had blue eyes and had a rather attractive appearance though that was offset by the way she carried herself. The Spartan could tell that the woman was no stranger to fighting and the way she carried the rather large shield with her and kept her sword hand close to her weapon told him that she was no stranger to combat. He looked to see anything else that would indicate which side she belonged to but it was then that Sandra spoke as she also spotted the woman in question.

"She's a Paladin, a Knight of the Silver Hand."

The Spartan turned to look at Sandra, he was not unfamiliar with the term Paladin, in Earth's history, the term 'Paladin' had been given to the twelve most respected and noble Knights in King Charlemagne's court, and the most famous of the twelve Knights or the Twelve Peers as they were called was Roland, other sources in Earth's history stated that the term Paladin was given to those men who were part of Roland's own forces. The Paladins represented the martial valor of the Christians over the Saracens. Many of their later exploits were all fictional works, but the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in which they and Roland died to protect the retreat of their king was very real.

He also knew that the more magical and fictional term for Paladin in the past was a warrior of virtue and light that was given divine powers to fight evil, demons, and undead. That was usually the stuff of fictional writers and game makers, something he and his Spartans never bothered with, but considering that he was currently in a world were magic existed and was the norm and many mythological creatures existed, the idea of that kind of Paladin existing here was not too far a stretch.

"Can we trust her?"

Sandra nodded.

"I believe so, Paladins are loyal to the Alliance and are defenders of Humanity as well as warriors of the Light."

Erin snorted and replied.

"They are, but they are a bit uptight if you ask me, they've got a stick named tradition that's been placed too deep in their…"

James replied.

"Careful what you say about them, I trust them more than most."

The Blood Elf sighed a bit but replied.

"Fair enough, but still, they do need to lighten up and live a little, they may be paragons of virtue and such, but they are human as well right?"

The Spartan replied.

"That's enough you two, I'll go see if we can talk to her and get her to help us recue the prince, an extra hand can come in handy."

Erin then replied.

"You might want to be careful, she might think you are something else considering how you look."

"Trust me, I have dealt with worse."

…

"Hold it right there."

The moment the Spartan said that, the woman stopped and quickly got herself into a defensive position and looked around carefully, her eyes alert for danger while moving back to a nearby boulder to cover her back from sudden attacks from the rear. That was enough to tell the Spartan II Commando that this woman was indeed very capable as the boulder would indeed serve to block any possible attacks to her from behind.

He then heard her speak, she was indeed female, but her tone was that of a seasoned fighter.

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

The Spartan decided to reveal himself from the shadow and he was soon before the Paladin, and naturally, once the woman got a very good look at him, she was quick to comment on who she saw before him.

…

"What in the name of the Holy Light?"

Dana looked at the armored giant of a man who was before her and she raised her Light Earthforged Blade in a defensive posture along with her, she had no idea just who this stranger was but she was not going to take any chances, for all she knew this could some sort ofne demon or an escaped Elemental, though she had to admit that it looked too human sized and shaped to be an elemental and if it was one, where that the mage that controlled it? She wondered just what was going on here, she had recently rested long and hard from the hard work that she had been doing ever since coming back to Azeroth.

The reason she needed the long rest was from the harrowing experiences in Lordaeron where she and a host of other adventurers had helped the famed Tirion Fording try to free his beloved son from the grip of the Scarlet Crusade but had only arrived in time to avenge his son's death at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor Isillien and eventually reform the Knights of the Silver Hand. It had been a harrowing time for the female Paladin, to finally come so far, only to see the young man die and see the battle between the father and his former comrade in arms.

That had been hard for them all, and had been a brutal battle, but it was there that she saw how corruption, overzealousness to a cause, and madness could do to a once understandable and noble cause. That and helping Tirion recover and regain his purpose in life had been bittersweet, bitter in the sense that she and her companions had failed to allow both father and son to be united once more, and sweet in the sense that these events led to the rebirth of the Knights of the Silver Hand and the birth of the Argent Dawn.

After she and her companions recovered, she was hoping to get things done but some business had cropped up in Duskwood, she had received a letter from one of her former companions, the Priestess Talia Vallis had asked for her help in some sort of problem in the town of Darkshire and she was going there to check on her old friend.

The last thing she expected was find this being before her, this was no Orc or any member of the Horde forces, or that of the Alliance either. The being wore armor that was unlike anything she had seen in any forge whatsoever. The armor on the being had on it was colored green and black and she noted that the armor itself was completed by a helmet with a full golden plate that hid the face from view…if this being even had a face to begin with.

Dana quickly gathered her wits and replied.

"Who or what are you?"

The Spartan would have replied but decided that now was not the time for introductions, the group of the Defias they were soon going to stopping was moving on and if they didn't hurry, they were going to be in some serious trouble if the group got ahead of them before they could work up a plan to stop them once they were in range.

"Now isn't the right time for this, my allies and I need your help."

Before the Paladin could ask what that thing meant by that several other figures appeared. Dana was surprised to see three Night Elves appear, two of them women were wearing armor that she never saw before though these were not the same as the kind worn by the being before her, the other was a male Druid, judging from the way he was dressed. The next was a female blood Elf who was also dressed in the same armor as the Night Elf females. And the next were a band of humans like herself; but to her surprise they wore the armor and symbols of the Stormwind Royal Guard.

Dana was completely confused by all this and spoke out.

"What in the name of the Holy Light is going on here?"

The Spartan quickly placed his fingers near the area where his mouth was which was the signal for silence.

James then introduced himself and this was where Dana revealed her own name and then asked what was going since she was still very much in the dark as to what was going on. Needless to say, when she got her answer to that question, she was quite surprised by what she had just been told by the Stormwind Captain.

"What? The Defias Brotherhood kidnapped the Prince?"

"Yes, all of us here are on a mission to rescue him, but we could use all the help we can get right now. Your skills and abilities as a Paladin can truly be of great help Dana Tyr."

Dana looked at the group and had to admit to herself that this band seemed to be more than able to handle the situation, but she was not the kind to turn down a request for help, especially from her fellow humans. Even more so considering that she was being asked to help rescue the Prince of her kingdom, which naturally was something she was not expecting to be doing the very second she decided to take a different path to Darkshire to work out some of the kinks in her body after the long rest she took.

"So who's in command of the rescue attempt?"

James then spoke to Dana in answer to that question.

"The Spartan is the one leading the operation at the moment so we can follow his lead."

Dana was naturally confused by that as she had never heard of the term Spartan before and she made that very clear to the group before her as she spoke.

"Spartan? What or who is this Spartan you speak of?"

John then replied.

"He's referring to me, we need to cut them off from retreat on either side so we have to divide into two groups, trap them in a pincer strike and make sure to annihilate them to the last man to make sure that there is no escape route for them. Now then, will you listen to what I have to say about how we all can rescue the Prince before they escape us?"

Dana thought it over and quickly gave her decision, this was important as she had encountered the Defias before and she despised them for their actions towards Stormwind and it's people even though they were once people of Stormwind themselves. Now that they had willingly kidnapped the Prince of her homeland, she was more than ready to do what she could to inflict as much pain on the Defias as possible.

"All right I am in, what do you have in mind?"

The Spartan quickly laid out the plan while on the move and using the TACPAD to show the movements of the enemy, apparently while the group of the Defias was more mobile, their progress was slowed by the dangers of the location they happened to be in. The Spartan's plan was to have one team intercept the group while the second group would attack from the rear, the first group would shock the Defias and break their ranks just a bit, allowing the second group to move in and take them completely by surprise. This would then work to the first team's advantage as they closed the gap and surrounded the Defias.

It was a risky gamble as there was a great chance that the Defias might kill Anduin than allow him to be rescued, but the Spartan had a plan for that as well. Seeing that this was by far the only option they had, the rest went for it.

Dana and James left took a number of the Royal Guard along with Sandra and Jarrod to the front while the Spartan and the rest moved to the rear, they were directed by Cortana who kept track of their targets and as soon as they were in position, John looked at the convoy, he spotted the Defias forces and scanned them, he quickly spotted two other members of the Stormwind Royal Guard, but the real thing that got his full attention was that there was a young child in the group, appearing to be twelve years of age and wearing grey clothing as well as a tabard with the symbol of a Lion in golden cloth in a blue background. The boy had blonde hair and blue eyes as well as the face that spoke of wisdom, experience, bravery, and skill, along with a rather attractive face, more than enough to attract any young girl's attention.

Cortana who was currently linked to John's visual data feed smiled a bit as she spoke to her Spartan in regards to the young man.

"Not bad, he might be a real lady killer when he's given the time to grow older. But there is naturally the important question, is he the Prince we're looking for?"

John nodded at that question in Cortana's mind, the two of them had no idea what the Prince of Stormwind looked like, but they already had people here who would recognize him with one in particular. With that in mind he was quick and spoke into the COM system to the Captain of The Prince guard detail.

"James, this is Spartan-117, I have spotted the Defias forces and have located a young child in the force, apparently a prisoner, along with two other Royal Guardsmen, can you look and confirm if the young man is the Prince?"

The Spartan waited for a full minute and a half when the Captain spoke to him.

"Yes! By the Holy Light, that is indeed Prince Anduin, they must be using the other Guardsmen from my unit to try and keep the Prince from trying to escape."

The Spartan however was going to take precautions first.

"Can you identify the Guardsmen and confirm their identities? There's a chance the Defias might have taken the uniforms of your unit's members and are disguised to make sure that if a rescue it attempted, they would be able to kill him in a moment's notice."

He waited a bit more and James replied.

"Yes, the two Guardsmen are Felix Darrel and Tricia Marcellus, they served in my unit for years and I know that they are loyal to Stormwind."

That was enough for the Spartan to make the decision as he kept an eye on the moving Defias unit, he made sure to time the attack carefully, he also studied the environment and determined that they had the advantage for this attack, he quickly spoke silently to Kaelyn to move and keep an eye on the convoy and locate viable targets that she could hit the enemy quickly and effectively while he and Erin would move in quickly and make the move when it was the right time with the other half of the Royal Guardsmen with them.

As soon as everything was set, the Spartan moved away from using his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and took out the BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle, the reason was this was a far more effective choice due to the range that he had work with and it's accuracy was more effective in this kind of situation than his Assault Rifle. He had to avoid hitting the Prince and the two other Royal Guardsmen to make this mission a success so the Battle Rifle was in. It was then that Cortana spoke to John.

"All right John, targets are in the zone, now's a good a time as any."

"Roger that! Execute!"

…

The Defias were suddenly stunned out of their wits as several loud war-cries came out of nowhere that they had not expected. The leader of the bunch was wide eyed as she spotted a woman who she recognized as a Paladin and behind her were a number of the very same Stormwind Royal Guardsmen who were supposed to be hostages with the rest of their comrades keeping an eye on them. She was also surprised when he spotted a Night Elf female with them and armed with a bow as well as a Night Elf male who quickly turned into a massive bear that roared at them and charged right at them. Three of her comrades died with arrows in their chests and she turned to shout at the others.

"Damn it all, kill the…"

Her orders were forgotten when several of her comrades dropped dead in cries of pain, the moment they fell, she spotted that some of them had arrows in their back, telling her quickly that there must be another archer or Hunter in the group. She and her surviving comrades looked behind them as they spotted another band of Royal Guardsmen coming behind them and to their surprise, they spotted what appeared to be a female Blood Elf Rogue as well. They were suddenly surprised when a massive figure came from the shadows and seemed to be spitting out fire and three more of their comrades fell down dead…gaping holes in their heads or in their chests, and those holes were smoking as well.

The figure looked to be a marriage of black and green, as well as some sort of reflecting golden plate that was where the face was as the flashes of this weapon revealed it's form to them in the darkness of Duskwood. The leader turned to the prisoners and their escorts and before she could make the order to kill the prisoners, the guards were quickly killed and she turned to see that the first group had smashed into their forces that were up front, with them caught on all sides, she knew that they were dead.

She roared and took out her sword and quickly slashed towards the Prince who didn't show any fear at her. But to her shock the sword she had bounced off as a massive form appeared before her, shimmering in glowing gold yellow light. She looked to see only her face in the reflective plate of the giant as the being moved so fast and quickly hit her with great force with the butt of it's weapon, she was sent back and before she could recover she looked to see the being reach down to what appeared to be swords and he quickly took out one with blinding speed and quickly stabbed her with such force and power that she barely felt a thing, she looked down and saw the sword had easily cut through her armor and she looked to see her killer's face, seeing only her own face looking back at her.

The Spartan easily pulled out his sword and killed two more Defias with terrifying ease as he dropped his Battle Rifle to free his other hand as he quickly moved through the movements and cut down two more who were still alive from crotch to shoulder and even decapitated two more. His attacks were so fast that the Defias were not even aware that he was among them until they turned to see him as he cut them down.

It was not long before the Defias group which numbered at least two and a half dozen were all dead or dying around him, and throughout all this, none of the hostages were harmed. The Spartan then turned to cut the ropes that bound the Prince and those who were with him, as soon as that was done, the Prince looked at him, and to the slight amusement of the Spartan, the young man showed only surprise but no fear or shock whatsoever, this Prince certainly has the bravery and the backbone that James praised him for. The young man then spoke to him.

"My thanks for rescuing us stranger, but who are you?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan-117, UNSC Navy, and I take it that you are Prince Anduin Wrynn?"

The young man nodded just as James appeared with Dana and the other member of his force coming behind him after mopping up what was left of the Defias forces, the Captain quickly kneeled down and spoke to his lord with relief thick in his voice.

"Prince Anduin, I am happy that you are safe."

Anduin nodded and smiled at the leader of his guard unit as he spoke.

"I am happy to see that you are alive and so are the others of your unit as well Captain, did you manage to reach my father in time to warn him of my capture?"

"Sadly no my Lord, the Defias forces that pursued me surrounded me and were about to kill me when the Spartan and his comrades came out of nowhere in their flying vessel and saved my life. They healed my injuries and offered their aid to rescue you and any of my unit that were still alive. We tracked down the first group and rescued a number of my comrades as well as interrogated the leader of the band and learned some very important information that we will report to the King once we return to Stormwind. We healed them and several of them went to Stormwind to inform the King of what was happening while I and the others continued to rescue you, we encountered Paladin Dana Tyr and she volunteered to rescue you as well and here we are."

Anduin looked at the group just as the second band arrived, the Night Elves moved away to give some space while the Blood Elf female looked on as the Spartan himself sheathed his sword and now cradled his gun while the other members of the Royal Guard were on one knee and so was the Paladin who was part of the attack force that had saved his life. The young prince then spoke to James as he had a plan to rescue the others of Captain James' unit.

"I see, now rise, there's no time to waste, we still have to rescue the others of the unit, before I was separated from the others along with Felix Darrel and Tricia Marcellus, I saw them move the group a fair distance from the borders of the town of Darkshire and they had some sort of camp there. It's only been at least four hours or so before I was separated from them, I do not know just what is it that the Defias plan to do with them, but I doubt that it is going to be good."

The Spartan looked at the visual package being brought in by Cortana and then spoke.

"The Prince is correct in that regard, they will no doubt either kill the remaining survivors or use them as slave labor, however we happen have both the strategic and tactical advantage right now. The last group that has the survivors have no way on knowing that their comrades are dead and the Prince has been rescued. We can use this to plan our own assault on them and free the last remaining members of the Royal Guard. If we move into the town of Darkshire and hide the Royal Guard somehow from sight we can make them think that everything is going to plan. Once we have an opening and they have lowered their guard, we can strike fast and hard."

Anduin nodded as well.

"I agree with the Spartan on this matter, and I will come with you as well."

James was not liking this and replied.

"My Prince, you do not need to come with us."

"I know, but your people risked their lives to save mine, I am not going to let them become slaves to the Defias if there is a way for me to free them. Give me a moment to get my bow, the Defias carried it with them to use as a token of me being in their hands when they would send it to my father, I think it's time I use it again for a more honorable purpose."

Anduin found his own hand made bow and a large number of arrows as well as taking a short sword for protection, while the two captured Royal Guardsmen were now fully armed that they began to move towards Darkshire. It was then that Dana spoke as she recalled just what she was doing here in Duskwood.

"I have something to mention that I believe may be able to help us, I have a female friend who happens to be a very skilled Priestess currently staying in the town of Darkshire. She sent me a letter before that told me about recently increasing activity of the Defias bands that were here in Duskwood so she asked for my help to both aid the Night Watch as well as track down what is the reason for the increase of activity of the Defias bands. I have a feeling that it might have something to do with this kidnapping attempt of the Prince."

James thought it over and nodded.

"That makes sense, they would keep the Night Watch busy to make sure that none of them would be aware of what was going on in their area."

The Spartan then walked over to the Paladin and spoke seriously.

"Is this friend of you're a capable Priestess?"

Dana nodded and replied.

"She is very capable and her healing magic is very good, she has saved my life and the lives of our old party too many times for me to count. And she is truly loyal to the Alliance. I can assure you that she is someone you can trust and have by your side. She does have skills to fight with though she is not a master swordsman by trade."

The Spartan seemed silent and nodded a moment later.

"Then let's hurry, the land and whatever creatures living here will deal with the Defias, but not before we take whatever we might need later on, no sense leaving anything we can use at a much later date."

…

In Darkshire…

Talia was currently treating a number of the wounded Night Watch, usually this was not a problem but she had noted that the activity in Duskwood had increased and somehow Defias activity had spiked for the past few days, some of the bandits were even attacking Darkshire more openly, something that they had done in the past but never this intensely before.

She looked and hoped that her old friend, Dana would arrive, as much as she had gained a good level of skill in fighting with her own sword, she was still a novice compared to her Paladin friend. She had sent her friend a letter and thankfully got a response that she was soon going to be on her way once she settled some accounts back home.

The light brown skinned, green eyed and black haired Priestess finally finished her healing and decided to take a good drink of water to recover her strength after the healing as the Night Watch members bade her farewell and head off to report to their commander and get some much needed food and drink after another hard day of keeping their homes safe from all the threats that would come around in their location.

As she finished her drink, she wondered how soon she was going to see her other friends, it had been some time since she had seen her old party as they each had moved on to handle other matters that they needed to handle on their own.

(I wonder what else could happen today?)

She got her answer when one of the Night Watch came in and called to her.

"Priestess Talia, someone is looking for you."

"Who is it?"

"A Paladin, but she's not alone either, it looks almost like she has a large platoon with her."

That confused Talia as she had not expected Dana to come with a large company in tow as well. Something was not right as she walked out to see if the Paladin that the Night Watch member had spoken of was indeed her friend. The moment she walked out of the building to look at the group which had drawn quite the crowd as well, she spotted her old friend and she smiled out as she walked over to Dana and spoke.

"Dana! I'm happy to see that you've made it here safely."

The red haired female Paladin smiled as well and replied.

"You have little need to worry Talia, I am fine, but there is something that we need to discuss."

"I can think of one right now at the moment, who are all these people behind you? You mentioned nothing of bringing a small army with you."

"It's a long story, and three people are about to tell you that as well."

Dana turned and from the group came three figures to Talia's vision, one was a ornately armored male soldier with a sword and shield along with a massive figure that was wearing green and black armor along with a golden visor as well as carrying some odd devices and two swords on him. That was enough to surprise the Priestess as she had never seen or heard of anyone armed and armored like this fellow before, but then she looked to see a young twelve year old boy between the two men and she wondered briefly on what this young man was doing here.

However, she quickly recognized him and gasped as she fell on one knee and spoke.

"Prince Anduin Wyrnn!"

The Prince quickly spoke to Talia.

"Priestess Talia, please, now is not the time, we need your help."

Talia stood up, still trying to digest what was going on before her, she had not expected this to happen and she quickly looked at her friend for some answers. Dana could see the utter confusion in Talia's face and she replied to that.

"It's a long story."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

That wraps up the rescue mission and the battles were quick and not too descriptive since the focus is the rescue mission for not just the Prince but the surviving members of James' unit as well, in the next chapter is the rescue for the remaining Guardsmen and then the arrival of the whole team to Stormwind where Varian, Bolvar, and Tirion will soon meet the Spartan for themselves and in this meeting he will be able to reaffirm not just his neutrality, but to prove to them that while he is neutral, he is not an enemy and can be trusted as well to come to their aid when it is needed.

One of the characters mentioned in the poll has now been introduced, along with another character as well; these two apparently had been in a group that had taken part in the events that gave rise to Tirion working to rebuild the Knights of the Silver Hand and also the rise of the Argent Dawn. So you can bet that these two are not amateurs. I plan to have them eventually work with the Spartan at the end of this arc as they also help him learn about Azeroth's history as both of them happen to be natives of the Kingdom of Stormwind as well. They might also join him as he would go back to the Dawn but that is still going to be planned out.

As for James and his unit, what will be their fate after this situation that they were part of? That will be seen soon enough on the next chapter so you don't have to worry too much about how this situation might end for now.

Before I go, do you guys want this story to have a single couple route only or do you want me to go for the H couple route? I need this answered so I can decide what to do with all the other characters I will be adding soon and they will be given good parts to play soon enough as well.

See you on the next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own Blizzard or Bungie.

Chapter 7

Part 3

Rescue and Meetings…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the meeting hall of Darkshire…

Talia was surprised completely by what her friend Dana had just told her and the same could be said for Mayor Ello Ebonlocke and his daughter Althea Ebonlocke who was currently the Commander of the Night Watch along with several of the Night Watch who were there. They were not alone either as the Spartan, James Hansen, Kaelyn, Sandra, Erin, Jarrod, and White Claw were in the building as well. The Spartan was currently standing and making sure that his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle were in good condition and were more than ready to work.

Apart from checking his gear, he observed the others to see how they were doing at the moment and he was sure that now that they knew the situation he was going to have to wait and see what they were going to about it all.

Talia then spoke.

"You mean that the reason the Defias activity here in Duskwood has increased was because they wanted to kidnap the Prince?"

Dana nodded at that and James then replied.

"Yes, we also have uncovered some very serious information concerning the activities of the Defias Brotherhood that deals with their intentions towards Stormwind, they no doubt would have used the Prince as a way to stop the Alliance from trying to halt their plans. So far none of them have any idea that the Prince has been rescued, so we plan to rescue the other members of my unit and then head back to Stormwind."

Ello rubbed his beard and thought over the information, like many in Darkshire, he was not very happy with the decision of Stormwind to pull away the Guards that they originally had stationed in Darkshire, but he was not blind to the situation and knew that this was deadly serious. The fact that this was the reason the Defias had been even more open in their attacks than before was a serious cause for concern.

The Mayor looked at his daughter was also deep in thought and he then directed his attention at the massive figure who was there with them in the Hall as well. This Spartan was unlike what he had seen before in his life. The being was certainly well armed and armored, but there was nothing that resembled any kind of guns, swords, or armor that he had seen before. The town he happened to run was usually a place where Alliance and Horde affiliated travelers and adventurers would appear. It was difficult enough dealing with the Horde forces that would appear occasionally from time to time, and keeping both the Night Watch members from getting into situations that would deplete their manpower, that was something he and his daughter wanted to avoid.

This Spartan however was neither Horde nor Alliance as well as he had never met any being like him before and he was not sure what to make of the being. The good news is that if the Prince of Stormwind trusted this giant armored being then he and his people should as well. He then looked at the weapons that the being had with it and he was quite curious what they were. They resembled guns used by the Dwarf, Gnome and sometimes human adventurers that passed by the town yet these looked very different that before.

(Who or what is this being?)

The same train of thought was in Althea as well as she glanced at the Spartan who seemed to be just standing there. She had no idea what to make of the stranger other than the fact that he was traveling with Prince Anduin, a group of Stormwind Royal Guardsmen, a trio of Night Elves and a Blood Elf as well. That was by far a sight that she never thought she would see, seeing groups of adventurers was one thing, but seeing this giant was another. Not in the sense that she was afraid, it was more in the sense that this was an unexpected sight.

Nothing in the Alliance arsenal was on this man, and without any information on him, it was natural that the female commander of the Night Watch was wary of the man if he even was one underneath all that armor and the golden face plate, even though he seemed to have earned the trust of the Prince of Stormwind and that of the Prince's personal guard as well.

The Night Watch Commander however decided to focus herself on the more important details on how to deal with the news of what the Defias had been up to in the lands she was assigned to watch over. They couldn't ignore any of this and she knew that by doing this, it would help give the Night Watch more support from Stormwind, not much in the long run, but any support was better than nothing.

Prince Anduin then spoke to both Ello and Althea.

"I know that this is a rather large request, considering the fact that many people here no doubt wish for more aid from Stormwind, but I promise you that if you can help us in any way possible, I will do my best to make sure that Darkshire will get whatever support you believe you need here to secure the town and keep the people safe, even if it is only token support at best."

Althea then spoke.

"This not something we normally do and we don't have the manpower to spare Prince Anduin, our Watchers are focused on protecting Darkshire from both the Undead, the Worgen, and the other creatures that make this place their home. But I will have to ask them what they think of this so at least if there are any of my group who are willing to help, then I will do what I can."

…

The Spartan on the other hand was currently scanning the people before him, the Mayor seemed to be very capable as an administrator and the fact that he was able to keep this town from falling apart was impressive to say the least. Something seemed to fill the and make this place be engulfed in some sort of effect that made this place feel like it was completely nighttime even though according to Cortana it was still day time outside of the area of Duskwood.

It was almost as if there was some sort of power that kept this land completely bathed in night, something that by UNSC science standards would have been impossible, but since he was in a world where magic was the norm, then he was not going to rule out the possibility that magic had something to do with this perpetual darkness that covered the whole forest. Though it had be very powerful magic in order to do this to an entire region.

Cortana naturally spoke to him in private as it seemed that the magic had no effect on their COM systems.

"I've been scanning this entire area for hours now and I still can't find out just what had happened to this place that made it impossible for the sun to shine through here. Whatever or whoever did this must have some serious power."

The Spartan agreed and decided to wait lot more to see just how far this discussion was going to go and just how long will it last.

…

Kaelyn looked at the Spartan who remained silent and wondered just what was going through the mind of the human soldier right now, she had no doubt he was taking this all in and working on something, and no doubt was getting help from that glowing female being of light as well in some way or another. But that was when she decided to try and ask him what was going through his mind.

"Chief, are you all right?"

The Spartan turned to look at the Night Elf and replied with a slight nod.

"I am fine, but we do have to move quickly, there is a chance that sooner or later, the Defias we are chasing might try to send a runner to get confirmation if the Prince had been delivered in their base of operations. We have to make a move soon before things get too complicated for a rescue effort to be made. If we can somehow distract them and make a rescue attempt while we have their attention, then we have a chance."

Sandra listened to that well and nodded in agreement.

"The Chief has a point, if we can distract them and rescue the prisoners at the same time, we have a chance to get everything done before the Defias even know what is going on."

Ello then decided to speak as well.

"Considering the situation that we have before all of us, and what is at stake, I suppose that helping you is our best option, but I will have to agree with Commander Althea on this matter, we do not have the manpower needed to help with the rescue and defend Darkshire at the very same time as well. So we have to wait and see just what will the other Watchers say."

It didn't take too long before Althea returned, having gathered the Watchers into their barracks and discussed the situation that was present before them, and some of the Watchers opted to help the Prince in rescuing the other remaining members of the Royal Guard, while others were not sure that they should get involved with the matter themselves as they were already stretched thin as is. It was an understandable stance since they had only to recruit villagers as well as adventurers as well, in the same way that they had recruit Talia to serve as their healer.

However, the Watchers agreed that they could give them information of the countryside that could give them the terrain advantage over the Defias since even though the Defias did operate in Duskwood, they didn't have the level of experience that the combined members of the Night Watch had under their belt as they had been doing this for years long before the Defias even set up shop.

As soon as the maps came to their hands the Spartan quickly checked them as he planned to use them to make a cross reference to the location of the group, thanks to Cortana using the Satellite overhead to keep track of the Defias group via thermal scanning systems. So far the images he saw through the visual package coming in from the satellite. As soon as he got the latest data, he then placed the TACPAD on the table and quiuckly spoke as the device came to life, much to the surprise of the people there with the exception of the three Night Elves as well as the female Blood Elf as they were more used to the kind of technology that the Spartan had with him already.

As soon as the images came online, the Spartan downloaded the recordings of the maps that the Night Watch had given them, he showed the images via the TACPAD and gave his plan as the images showed that the Defias group was currently in some sort of plain a good distance from Darkshire to the North and near the river that was the barrier between Duskwood and the rest of the northern forest, the same location where he and the others had freed the very first batch of the Stormwind Royal Guard. Seeing the terrain and the possible routes that were there on the maps of that belonged to the Night Watch, the Spartan was quick to come up with a plan, this plan involved a direct attack by those who were skilled in long range, namely Sandra, Kaelyn, and Anduin himself, though he made it clear that they were not going alone as Talia and Jarrod would be nearby to provide healing as well as some close range muscle alongside White Claw, they were to sneak up and fire several arrows at the Defias to get their attention. The shooters would then move back and allow the Defias to chase them.

As soon as that happens, the remaining Royal Guardsmen would spring out and attack, this would imbalance the Defias forces quickly and when they were engaged, he would move to the side and begin picking off as many as he could with his own weapons. To make sure that there was less chance of the Defias getting away scot free, those who were able to shoot at range were to pick them off quickly to make sure that they never got to escape or locate other Defias bands which would act as reinforcements. Once the battle was underway, Erin would move in and free the prisoners and then it would be a double attack from the front and back.

Once the plan had been outlined, it didn't take long for the others to agree with the plan, and it was a fairly sound one as well. Ello and Althea agreed and they were going to keep many of their Watch members hidden away to give the illusion that they had a decrease in man power which would make the Defias think that they were safe and would be able to operate without attracting too much attention to themselves.

Once the plan was in motion, the Spartan led them to the location where the Defias were, as soon as they arrived, he quickly gave silent orders to them groups to take their positions but not before going up and borrowing the binoculars that he had given James before. Once he was able to reach the high rise, he moved his hand up to look at the area without exposing himself, the binoculars were quickly connected to his HUDS and he spotted the Defias forces, a large number of them as well and there were the last of the prisoners.

With a full visual confirmation of the objectives, the Spartan moved back and signaled the go ahead to Kaelyn, Sandra and Anduin to begin, and as soon as the three of them spotted their targets of the…night, they took out their arrows and aimed…

…

In the Forest outside of the town of Darkshire…

The Defias Brotherhood had no idea what had just happened, only a moment ago, everything in their camp seemed to be all right and they were soon going to have the chance to get some extra revenge as well as leverage on Stormwind City, it's people, and most importantly, it's King and the Nobles that have deprived them of the true rewards for their services in the past to the crown. With the Prince in their hands, there would be no way for the Alliance to counter attack them, they could pillage Stormwind at their leisure and bring the city to utter economic ruin by taking down all of the trade ships that would come to port with their Juggernaut, their forces on the ground would continue to raid and pillage at will, attacking caravans and travelers, strangling the trade inland.

And they could even attack Stormwind and with the Prince as their hostage, the Army would not be able to fight back at all for fear of killing the Prince himself in the attack that they would launch, and with a mobile base of operations, the Brotherhood would be a force to reckon with.

But now it seemed that things were not going to go their way as several of their sentries were suddenly cut down by a barrage of arrows. Several of their fellow Defias tried to move in and attack the attackers when they spotted the direction just where the arrows had originated from, they were a large group as they were augmented by another two bands of their comrades but to their shock their comrades who had charged in as soon as the arrows stopped, were suddenly screaming in absolute pain and cries of death.

They had no idea what was going on but soon got their answer as their comrades came running back bloody and wounded as a large number of the Stormwind Royal Guard that they had attacked before came right at them. They were completely caught off guard by what they were seeing before them as the Stormwind Guard attacked them in full force with a Paladin leading the attack and soon enough a trio of archers appeared behind the attacking force with a Priestess and a Night Elf Druid among them. The three archers were very different indeed, two were female Night Elves yet they were wearing armor that none of them recognized. But what really got their attention was that the third Archer was none other than the Prince himself.

That was easily seen by the Royal Guardsmen as they cheered on at their rescuers, that was more than enough to anger the Defias forces as they turned to face them, but three of them paid with their lives as they were torn up by more of the arrows from the Archers as Kaelyn, Sandra, and Prince Anduin showed their skills, with both women admitting that despite his youth, the Prince was an excellent shooter as he aimed for the Defias who were in the firelight and carrying torches.

It was then that a blur of green and black came out from another side of the entire battlefield and began to unleash bursts of fire that were similar to a gun, but to the shock of the Defias members, this stranger in green and black armor with a golden visor seemed to not need to reload as several flashes came from it's weapon as it began to drop more of them with utterly unnerving accuracy. The ones who were attacked by this giant of a being fell to the ground with holes in their bodies and in their heads as well as they bled on the ground and the wounds even seemed to release smoke and steam as well.

As soon the weapon stopped, the being moved with supernatural speed, taking out something from the weapon that was hard to see, it then took out another item and placed into the back of the weapon and pulled something that sounded loud in the forest and quickly began to unleash more fire into the rest of their forces.

The Spartan looked at the forces before him as the Defias who were armed with close combat weapons were now drawn into combat with James' unit along with Dana as the Paladin swung her sword with exceptional skill while using her shield both as a form of defense as well as bludgeoning weapon at the same time. Talia was providing healing to the others while she was supported by Jarrod, Kaelyn and Sandra were more than able to pick targets of opportunity. This was more than enough for him as he then spoke to the COM system.

"Erin, move in, we have them focusing on us."

"I understand, I'm on the way."

The Blood Elf Rogue made her move, using the same planned route that John had given to her before they moved out on the plan. She readied her weapons and silently moved to where the captive Royal Guardsmen were held. She moved in and managed to sneak up to one of them and cut the female Guardsman's ropes, she smirked and told her to keep quiet as she began to cut the ropes of the other prisoners. Once that was done, the Rogue moved in and attacked the Defias from the rear, she was soon joined by the Royal Guardsmen who had been able to get their old weapons back and charged right into the ranks of the enemy. This attack from the rear completely caught the Defias off guard as they now found themselves in a vice of death.

A number of them tried to break and run, but they would wind up with arrows in their backs or bullets going through them as Kaelyn, Anduin, Sandra, and John picked them off easily while the Spartan's use of his BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle was as deadly as ever. A band of Defias focused their attacks on the Spartan and charged right at him, hoping to force him to go close combat and deny him the use of that gun, once they were close, they could outmaneuver him as there was a chance that his armor would slow him down.

"The idea would have worked had they dealt with a regular foe….but a Spartan II Commando was anything but a regular foe.

One Defias got a swift strike to the jaw with the butt of the Battle Rifle and the sound of shattering bones was heard as the man's head bent in a very unsightly angle, as he fell, a female Defias tried to attack but gets a kick right in the side of her ribs that not only creates the sickening sound of bones being broken, but sends her flying to the side into the rock face and the sound of her spine cracking as well as the back of her skull soon followed. The next got a powerful left hook that shattered his jaw and sent him flying back into the lower land dead. The next managed to force the Spartan to drop his Battle Rifle but that was not a good move as the Spartan leaped forward with right knee extended and hit the forehead of the attacker, that was enough to crush the skull and send the man back to the ground in a deadheap due to extreme blunt force trauma. The Spartan's action made him land into a group of Defias, and before they could react, the Spartan reached for both katanas that was on either side of his hips, with once deadly and efficient motion, the Spartan took out both swords and slashed around in a whirlwind of steel that reflected the light of the fires nearby, creating waves fiery gold around the Spartan.

Mere seconds after he stopped, all the Defias around him, at least a dozen all suddenly fell dead, their blood flowing out of their wounds as they were cut to pieces before they could even register that they were already dead. The Spartan turned to the other Defias who were looking on in abject horror and that moment of hesitation was going to cost them their lives as the Spartan moved in and attacked.

The results were just as bloody as several more feel, some of them were decapitated and others were falling down to the ground with gaping wounds on their bodies as well as some missing limbs as well. The end result was that over a dozen or so of the Defias were slaughtered by the Spartan as he used his katana swords on them with blinding speed. It was not long before the last of the Defias were cut down by the others and the mission was finally over as the Guardsmen were rescued and had also been given more than ample opportunity to have their revenge on the Defias Brotherhood. Once the fighting was over and not a single survivor was left, the group began to salvage what they could, Sandra, Anduin, and Kaelyn recovered their arrows, and the Spartan recovered his Battle Rifle and checked it for damage after placing both swords back into their sheaths. Finding that his Battle Rifle was in good condition, the Spartan quickly began to help salvage what they could get.

The supplies they salvaged from the Defias Bands were fairly useful, many of which included healing potions, coins of both silver and copper, as well as some gold ones, there were also several rolls of cloth as well as a number of jewels, no doubt pilfered from the convoys they had been raiding for some time. Their weapons were also fairly useful and would help the Spartan in terms of economy when he decided to sell them.

Once that was done, the group headed back to Darkshire to get some much needed rest while also tending to the wounded members of the Royal Guardsmen, namely the last group that showed signs of being beaten and injured by their Defias captors, it angered both Anduin and James when they each saw the injuries, but since the rescue had been a success, they were able to look past that and focus on the healing.

…

In Darkshire…

The Royal Guardsmen were finally taking the chance to have a good meal and have a good round of drinking after all that they had to deal with. The success of the operation was buoying the spirits of the Royal Guardsmen and while John would have preferred not to waste any more time in Darkshire but move out to Stormwind as soon as possible, he couldn't blame them too much.

At the moment, he and his own group were currently resting on the other side of the tavern with Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod drinking some cool water and eating some food, while Erin, being the adventurous of the bunch was drinking some ale and enjoying the warmth of the drink. As for him, he was planning on staying stone cold sober until he got the Prince back to his father, the young man in question was back in the Town Hall, thanking both Ello and Althea for their support and planning to find some ways on how to give some level of support to the people of Darkshire as well as give the Night Watch some help as well in dealing with the Worgen and the Undead as well as the other dangerous creatures that called this place home.

The Spartan turned as both Talia and Dana arrived and both the Paladin and the Priestess made their way to their table and the Paladin walked over to the Spartan and spoke to him.

"I have to say that this was a rather interesting experience….Spartan, at any rate, what exactly do you plan to do now?"

The Spartan looked at the female Paladin and replied to her question easily.

"I'll be joining the Prince in his return to his father and the Capital, what about you and your friend Talia?"

Dana thought about the discussion that she and Talia had earlier, with the situation concerning the sudden spike in Defias Brotherhood activity solved, they were still going to have to remain here to help the Night Watch in dealing with what other dangers there happened to be in Duskwood, and there was no doubt going to be plenty of those soon enough. But for now, they were free to do what they could. Besides that, she had heard that Tirion Fordring was in the castle discussing some important matters with King Varian for the day so seeing the rise of the Knights of the Silver Hand would also be worth her time as well.

"I might go to Stormwind myself to take a look at some important matters as well, so if you and your group don't mind having someone else with you all, then I wish to join you."

The Spartan looked at his comrades and John could tell that this was something that had be considered, however he had admit that her skills were certainly welcome, and since they were all going at the same direction, why not?

"All right, you can come along."

Dana nodded with a smile and bowed slightly just as Talia arrived along with Anduin who looked to see that his Royal Guardsmen were finally able to relax somewhat before the trip back to Stormwind would soon start, he had no doubt that word of his kidnapping had reached his father and that sooner he was able to return to his father then all the better.

…

Later…

After bidding farewell to both Ello and Althea, and reaching on a trade agreement for supplies as well as armor and weapons, Anduin and the others made their back to the same route that was used to take them into Duskwood as well. In the lead were naturally the Spartan and his group as they were soon heading back to the city of Stormwind. It was going to take some time but after getting some much needed rest and refreshment, the group were more than ready to move out. The Spartan didn't have the time to have a proper meal, but that could wait.

For now Cortana was still back there in the Albatross which was still cloaked and she would be more than ready to de-cloak the heavy drop ship and take to the sky and reach them if needed, but for now, she was going to have to stay put inside the Albatross and keep an eye on things. As they moved on, they soon arrive in Goldshire and it was a quaint little place, a good place to slow down and have some time to relax. It was also an important trading town due to it's rather ideal location in the trade routes in the area. Many people called this place home and it was always bustling at any time of the day, the Lion's pride Inn is the most recognized pub there was and the most hospitable as well in all ways. The town was also well defended by Stormwind City Guards and the influx of adventurers ensured that there was plenty of muscle in the area to defend the place and it's population of seven thousand people.

However, Anduin had other ideas as he moved to speak with the current leader of Goldshire Marshall Dughan to ask if the others who had been rescued had arrived. While this was happening, a number of the present guards and some male adventurers were looking at Kaelyn, Sandra and Erin, wondering what was they were wearing as neither the clothes nor the armor they had on looked the least bit familiar to them. However the guards and adventurers were not very happy at the sight of Erin herself. She was a Blood Elf after all and her race were aligned with the Horde and not many people were in the mood to have a member of the Horde in their lands.

Erin herself knew that this was going to happen and she tightened her senses to watch out for danger. However the Spartan moved in and was next to her, silently sending the message to the guards and adventurers to back off right now or else. That was enough to convince most of the less courageous and experienced people while some decided to move away and glare at her in a much safer distance, away from the Spartan.

The female Blood Elf was more than happy for the action taken by her savior and while a practical part of her said that he was only doing it to make sure that she was still around to give her information, another part of her was happy that he was willing to go out of his way to make sure that she was in good hands and not in danger of any attacks on her person. Naturally she looked to see that her Night Elf rivals were not very happy and were glaring at her. She smirked at that and ignored them, gently pressing closer to the Spartan.

And even though she could only feel the armor that he was wearing, it was still rather comforting to her. She was going to enjoy this trip after all even if there was no doubt in her mind that the glares she got in Goldshire were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Dana could tell that there was some level of competition between the two Night Elf women and the female Blood Elf over this Spartan, but she wondered just why that was the case, as she was still unsure as to whether there was a person underneath all that armor. Many would think that Paladins were not allowed to have families or even have romantic or intimate relations, but that was not true, while they were required to be followers of the Holy Light, Paladins were not required to be celibate, as they were warriors and the stress and hardship of combat was always there for them to deal with.

Paladins were not forbidden to marry and have families of their own as well, only those who had no contact with Paladins before believed such things. After all, in his life as a Paladin, Tirion himself was married and had a son, even the famous Lieutenant of Anduin Lothar Turalyon himself a Paladin had been known to have developed a loving and romantic relationship with Elven Ranger and Lead Scout Alleria Windrunner, the eldest of the Windrunner family.

It was not to say that she was in the mood to follow such paths herself, but she was not adverse to being around men, though she knew that her friend Talia was a bit more apprehensive around men, not due to bad experiences, but because she had been in the Priesthood all her life and had been an orphan while Dana had come from a large family in her youth.

Dana placed that aside for now though she had to admit that she did have some level of curiosity as to what the Spartan actually looked like without the helmet on, that way she could at least see what was it that made the three elven females be at odds over this armored being. Talia herself noted that and was wondering what was it that seemed to make the three elven females seem to be competing with one another over the armored being before them.

Once Anduin came back to the group, they hurried on and soon they arrived at none other Stormwind City itself, and as soon as they spotted the city, the Spartan had to admit that for a medieval fortress it was certainly very impressive to say the very least. He looked at the statues and quickly saw the names there on the plaques below each statue.

One statue was that of a young man with heavy armor, wielding a massive sword and the Lion emblem on both his shield and armor. There below the statue of the man was his name.

'General Turalyon.

Former Lieutenant to Lord Anduin Lothar, Knight of the Silver Hand. High General of the Alliance Expedition that marched into the Orc home world of Draenor…

Presumed deceased.

"Esarus thar no Darador - By blood and honor we serve."

"You were the right hand of justice and virtue, old friend. Your name will be honored in our halls always."

- Lord Uther the Lightbringer - Knight of the Silver Hand'

He directed his attention to the next statue and this was of an elven woman who wore the robes, clothing, and light armor, as well as carrying the bow that told him that she was a scout and an archer. The bow was in her left hand while a large eagle was on her right hand.

'Ranger Captain Alleria Windrunner

Renowned Troll Hunter of Quel'Thalas. Lead Scout and Intelligence Agent for the Alliance Expedition that marched into the Orc home world of Draenor.

Presumed deceased.

"Your heart flew straight as any arrow upon the wind, sister. You were the brightest of our Order. You were the most beloved of our kin."

- Sylvanas Windrunner - Ranger General of Quel'Thalas'

Looking at the names the Spartan was quick to guess that the two women may have been sisters in the same family, though he decided to do more research later on, though he noted that Erin seemed to be looking at the statue with a mix of surprise and understanding. This was enough to tell the Spartan that something was off a bit, but he decided to worry about that for a better time as he looked at the other statues that were there.

The next statue had a short humanoid that he quickly recognized as a Dwarf carrying a battle hammer and wearing plate armor. He looked at the plaque to see what this said about this statue.

'Kurdran Wildhammer

Renowned Dragon Fighter. Gryphon Master of the Aerie Peak. Commander of the Gryphon Rider Division attached to the Alliance Expedition that marched into the Orc home world of Draenor. Presumed deceased.

"We will hear Sky-Ree's calls upon the winds. We will hear your hammer thunder across the mountaintops. Ride hard into the hereafter, brother. The halls of our ancestors await you."

- Falstad Wildhammer - Lord of Aerie Peak'

This was enough to tell the Spartan that this one was a hero of the dwarven people, though he was not familiar with the Wildhammer name as of yet, but decided to do his research at a later date.

The second to the last statue was of a man who carried a large sword on his back and wore plate armor as well. He looked at the plaque to identify this person.

'Danath Trollbane

Militia Commander of Stromgarde. Tactical Advisor to General Turalyon. Force Commander of the Alliance Expedition that marched into the Orc home world of Draenor.

Presumed deceased.

"We honor your memory, nephew, and your sacrifice. Since the founding of our glorious empire, the path to valor has always been drenched with the blood of heroes."

- Thoras Trollbane, Lord of Stromgarde

The Spartan looked at this and decided to take his time to study more of this at a much later date as the group moved on the bridge and he directed his attention to the last statue.

The last statue was that of an elderly man who wore the robes that one would associate with a mage and carried a powerful and large staff. The Spartan directed his attention on the plaque that was there.

'Archmage Khadgar of the Kirin Tor

Former apprentice of Medivh. Supreme Commander of the Alliance Expedition that marched into the Orc home world of Draenor.

Presumed deceased.

"Never did one so selflessly delve into the dark heart of magic and warfare. We wish you well, bold wanderer. Wherever you are."

- Antonidas - Archmage of Dalaran'

The Spartan recorded all the names of these people and sent the data to Cortana and when she got it, she smiled and filed the information away for a much later use. For not the Spartan directed his attention to their arrival into the city itself. By all standards of the cities in Earth's medieval history in Europe, this city was very impressive and well constructed to say the least, The Spartan had to admit that it was somewhat hard trying to picture that the Defias Brotherhood had a hand in building this place at all. But for now he placed that aside as the Prince guided them to the castle as he was a better guide than most as this was his home city after all.

People naturally wondered just who they all were but seeing that they were being escorted by the Prince and his Royal Guard that they were not going to be much of a threat and they could actually be allies and friends of the young Prince.

…

In Stormwind Keep…

King Varian stood up from his throne with a happy smile on his scarred face as he waited for his son to reach him and when he did, he hugged his son. When he had been told by the members of Captain James Hansen's unit of his son's kidnapping, he was enraged by this, even more so when he was informed of what they had learned when they interrogated the Defias leader. Knowing that his son was taken by the same people that had taken him away from him and his people before was more than he could bear. He had never forgotten the parts the Defias played in Onyxia's plan to control Stormwind and the thought of what they intended to do to his son made him even angrier at the Defias Brotherhood.

He had planned to gather a force and personally rescue his son with his own hands and make the Defias pay with their lives for this kidnapping of his son, but when he learned from on the guards of the Keep that his son had returned with the rest of James' unit as well as some unknown beings, he waited and when he saw his son, he was deeply pleased to see his son safe.

At the moment, only his most trusted guards were in the throne room and had secured it from anyone who might intrude easily as members of SI:7 were also in the room to watch the area. Naturally both Bolvar Fordragon and Tirion Fordring were in the room as well. Once he had been informed by the members of Captain James' unit who came back about what they had learned, he ordered Noble Dunmoore to be under house arrest and all members of his servant staff, family, allies, and support were to be kept under surveillance as well to keep them from leaking out any information to the Defias network that might remain in the city.

He also ordered the surveillance of Stark's relatives to keep them away from finding out that his son had returned and any of their associates were watched as well to prevent them from getting a chance to inform the Defias leadership of the return of his son.

As he finished his hug on his son, he moved away and looked at Anduin and spoke to him.

"It's good to see you safe son, I'm happy that you are still alive."

Anduin nodded and replied.

"I am as well father; I would like to introduce the person who helped Captain James and his unit in freeing me from the Defias, though I have a feeling you have already heard of him."

Varian looked and his eyes widened a bit as he easily recognized the armored being who was there before him. It was the green and black armored being that Ambassador Durnhelm had spoke of in his trip to the lands of Kalimdor to meet with High Priestess Tyrande on what was told by the member of the 7th Legion that had gone to Kalimdor for a personal mission. The way the being moved was enough to tell the battle hardened king that this stranger was no ordinary person, he also looked at the devices that resembled guns, one of the back of the stranger, while the other was in his hands, along with the swords he carried on his side.

The green and black armor as well as the golden visor were very surprising to the King as he looked the Spartan over carefully, trying to assess this supposed human soldier in a way that would tell him more of whether he told the truth or not. After a minute or so of looking at the Spartan himself, he decided to speak to the Spartan in person, he walked over to the armored soldier and spoke.

"My thanks to you for rescuing my son, no doubt you know who I am and I also know who you are, but for formality's sake I wish to know who you are as well."

The Spartan nodded and placed his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle aside and replied with a crisp military salute as well as a full military posture and stance, he might be in a medieval world, but that certainly didn't change his military upbringing and respect for those in authority, and from what he had already heard about this King Varian Wrynn, he deserved to be given full respect and courtesy, though he naturally changed the address he usually gave to people.

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the UNSC Navy, you're Highness."

Varian was a bit surprised but relaxed, that short introduction had a great deal of respect and courtesy to it as well as an adherence to military protocol. This was more than enough to tell him that this Spartan was indeed a battle hardened soldier. He gave a slight glance to the side and saw that his old friend and advisor Bolvar thought the very same thing as well, and so did Tirion as the Paladin looked on with his own war hammer at his side.

The King then decided to give the same salute as he could see that it was the best way to respond to the Spartan's action. As he did so and soon lowered the salute, the Spartan did the same thing and that was when Varian spoke seriously to him, he needed to know what was it that made the Spartan come to the land as he didn't recall sending for an invitation of any kind to the Spartan.

"Spartan, Ambassador Durnhelm told me of your reluctance to siding with the Alliance, even though you happen to take residence with a member race of the Alliance, who you no doubt know as the Night Elves. Now I am not here to force you to side with us, considering the fact that you saved my son and those under Captain James' unit so I owe you a favor. What I want to know is that since you are neutral, why are you here in Stormwind of all places?"

Bolvar then walked over to the pair and spoke in a respectful tone, from one warrior to another and Varian didn't stop him either, another show that he saw Bolvar as more of a brother than a subordinate.

"I must agree with the question of my King, and I will introduce myself to you as well Spartan, I am Bolvar Fordragon, advisor to King Varian and I served as advisor to Prince Anduin when he took temporary leadership of Stormwind when his father was taken away from us until he returned."

The Spartan looked at Bolvar and quickly could tell that this man was a seasoned warrior and no doubt due to his role as advisor, was a powerful man in the circle of leadership in the city of Stormwind. However this human warrior seemed to radiate the aura of a person of integrity and honor, as well as experience and skill. The way that King Varian acted also showed that there was a great deal of respect and trust between the two men, showing that while they were leader and subordinate officially, they were much closer than that.

John decided to delve into more of that at a far better time as he responded to the question that was in the mind of both men.

"I came here to do just a routine study of the Continent and learn as much as I could as well as gather materials, resources, and more. I am also hoping to learn as much as I could about the history, culture, alphabet, traditions, and more of the residents of this continent, it was only when my group and I spotted Captain Hansen being pursued by the Defias Brotherhood that we intervened and eventually took part in rescuing Prince Wrynn. As to why, no amount of neutrality is worth the life of a child."

Tirion listened well to that and nodded in approval, this told him that this Spartan, despite his stance of remaining neutral cared for humanity and would aid his fellow humans for the right reasons. This was not lost to both Bolvar and Varian as the King of Stormwind spoke once more.

"So, that means that if you can help humans without being involved with in politics, then you would do it?"

The Spartan gave a nod and that was enough for the moment, however Varian and Bolvar were not entirely convinced as they wanted to learn a lot more about this Spartan and doing so would allow them to have a much better understanding of this human from beyond the stars. They had no idea as to who he really was and while they had been told a great deal of this Spartan by Ambassador Durnhelm when he came back from Kalimdor, both men wanted to know more for themselves.

Bolvar started the whole thing first off by asking the Spartan a simple question.

"Would you like to tell us your story once again?"

John was surprised by that and made that fairly obvious to both the King and Bolvar as he spoke.

"I thought that your Ambassador had already told you what I have told them about where is it that I had come from?"

Varian nodded at that.

"He has, and seeing your armor and those guns of yours does lend credence to what he has told us. But I prefer to hear this for myself, but only if you are willing to repeat yourself. However, that can wait for another time, what concerns me is what you managed to learn of the Defias' Brotherhood's plans for this…Juggernaut that they happen to be working on, do you have any idea if and when it will be completed?"

The Spartan shook his head at that.

"I am afraid not you're Highness, I have no idea of what are the exact dimensions of this ship and what it is capable of since I am not native to this world or this continent, though I have read on just how deadly they were in the Second War when the Alliance fought the old Horde years before."

King Varian nodded and replied.

"It's been years since I have seen one myself, but I still recall how much of the threat they were to both ships and for those on the coast, they had far better range than most of the Horde's fleet forces and were deadly when in good numbers against most threats. They were once built by the Goblins and naturally were expensive to make. After the Alliance won the War, we destroyed the foundries and refineries that supported the construction of those ships and while they were used still, the Goblins would only allow them to be used by either side for a price."

"Now that we know just what the Defias have been doing, this will present a considerable problem as it has been a while since the Alliance has been able to muster a strong enough Navy to deal with such threats, and while one lone Juggernaut cannot defeat an entire fleet on it's own, it is not to be taken lightly. We will need time to be able to rally a fleet that will be able to deal with the Juggernaut the very second it will reveal itself, but with the information we have now, we can be prepared for it. But first…"

Varian then directed his attention to Captain James and motioned him to come forward. The Captain did so and soon kneeled before his king and Varian spoke to him.

"You did what you could to safe guard my son, and your part in rescuing your comrades and then my son have given you a great deal of honor Captain, return to your post and know that you and your unit have my gratitude for you actions."

That was enough to make James relax and smile a bit more as he replied to his King.

"I thank you Highness, we will make sure not to let this happen again if ever we are on a mission for the crown."

Varian nodded as James stood up and moved to join the rest of his group and they headed out to return to their barracks to oversee to the other matters that they knew that they had to do, which naturally included honoring their comrades who were not so fortunate as they had been. As soon as that was done, Varian turned to speak to Bolvar and Tirion to discuss options on how to best deal with the Defias Brotherhood.

That was when John had an idea; he quickly spoke to Cortana privately via COM system and asked her to do a full scale scan of the area where the Deadmines were located as well as the abandoned town of Moonbrooke. It took only a few minutes for Cortana to relay the orders to the satellite above the world to locate the Deadmines and Cortana quickly did a very thorough seismic scan of the area to get a full view of what exactly was there. As she did this, she fed the information directly to John and afterwards, Cortana spoke to her long time protector.

"It seems that the Juggernaut is still under construction, judging by what the scans tell me, it's only partially completed in what appears to be a massive dock inside the mines. Must have taken the Brotherhood a lot of time and effort to even get the docks built, let alone the Juggernaut itself, if the Goblins made this type of ship, that would explain why the Defias kidnapped them to use their expertise in making them once more."

"Any suggestions?"

The female A.I replied to that question.

"Only one and it's fairly simple, we go in and deal with the problem, if we can hit them while they are still in the process of building the Juggernaut, we can blow it to kingdom come, and eliminate the Defias leadership while they're still in the dark about their plan of using the Prince as a bargaining chip being reduced to nothing but pipe dreams."

"You realize that we're not part of the Alliance right? We happen to be neutral on this whole affair."

"True, but that is what gives us the advantage, no one knows who we work for and we happen to be a complete mystery that they have no idea about as of yet. We can aid the Alliance while still not being part of it, all we need to do is offer our….services to them."

John frowned at that as he was quick to pick up on the meaning behind that particular statement.

"You mean you want us to be mercenaries for hire? That a gross violation of every UNSCDF regulation in the book, and you and I know that for a fact."

"I know, but we have to consider our options, this can help us prove to the Alliance that while are neutral we are willing to help them deal with some problems that they don't have the manpower, resources, and time to do themselves. We're not in the UNSC as well John so we have to adapt to the circumstances and environment we happen to be in. Besides, this can help us alleviate our financial situations well enough for the time being while we're here so we can have a small and workable economic base if we need to purchase supplies and materials. And since we're not affiliated to the Alliance or the Horde in any fashion, we have the advantage of being the wild card of the deck so to speak. Remember what you learned in history just how mercenary forces were used before? We're in that kind of situation now, besides, it'll be temporary at best so we might as well offer up the option for the time being."

The Spartan didn't like the implications of allowing himself to be hired, it went against every rule in the book, but he also was trained to be practical and flexible in the battle field. Besides that, the situation he was in demanded that he adapt to them, doing this would spare the Alliance the time, resources, and manpower to build the force needed to deal with the Defias Juggernaut when it was finally released from it's hidden dock. Not to mention that the attack which would kill the Defias leadership would shake them apart and shatter their momentum, plus hitting their headquarters could lead to valuable intel as well. As he mulled through the options and weighed them carefully, he decided to give the option that Cortana suggested, though not before talking to Cortana.

"All right, we'll do this, but I sure hope this does not come back to haunt us."

The A.I smiled at that.

"I know, but we're committed either way, let's get this over and done with."

The Spartan ended the conversation between him and Cortana and saw that both Bolvar and Tirion were discussing the options on how to build the fleet with Varian, though they admitted that building a fleet, even a small one was going to be a tough order and would take time as well as manpower and resources, and no doubt would attract a lot of attention from the Defias forces if they were not careful on where they would station the Fleet.

That was when the Spartan spoke.

"Begging you're pardon your highness, but I believe I can offer a solution to the problem if you and your advisors are willing to listen."

Varian raised an eyebrow at this and replied.

'I'm listening, what exactly do you have in mind?"

The Spartan then outlined the plan that he and Cortana talked about and when he was done, Varian, Bolvar, and Tirion were silent for a moment or two until Bolvar spoke to the Spartan.

"You wish to lend your aid in this matter by attacking VanCleef and his forces inside their own camp?"

"Yes, personally speaking I don't like the idea of working as mercenary, but this is the best plan that can help you're city if you need it. Since this is merely a suggestion you and your advisors can allow this or not, if you and your advisors agree to this then I will take this mission and deal with this in a manner that befits the situation. Since I have no ties to either the Alliance or the Horde and no one else knows about what or who I am apart from you and your advisors. In order to avoid that, I will have to go alone and do this myself."

Tirion was surprised and made that fairly clear as he spoke to the Spartan.

"You wish to take this mission alone? You already have very capable allies with you, why not take them along for this mission, surely you can use their support?"

"Normally I would, but my companions happen to be affiliated to both the Alliance and the Horde, if they are seen together with me, it will quickly alert the Defias and would tell them that this was an attack by the Alliance. If they see only myself, they do not know who or what I am and that will be to their undoing. Besides, since I have no tie either to the Alliance or the Horde, there is little chance that the Defias will be able to know which faction I happen to belong to, making it appear as something else entirely and neither side is involved. This way you can conserve manpower, resources, time, and also this will make sure that no one outside of this room will be the wiser. Either way, the Defias Brother's leadership will never know what hit them."

Kaelyn and the others were not quite happy with the idea of allowing the Spartan to go on this risky mission alone, though they also knew that considering the weapons and technology he had with him, he was more than able to take care of himself in any regard. However that didn't make the idea of letting him go alone into the very heart of the Defias Brotherhood any better than most.

But that decision on whether the Spartan went or not was up to them but to the King and his advisors as they mulled it over carefully, weight the advantages and disadvantages of doing things the way the Spartan had suggested to them.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up this one, now that Stormwind has a very good idea just what exactly is the scheme of the Defias in the Deadmines, what are they going to do about it?

Will they build a small fleet and even include a Battleship or two, and dust up some old Gnomish Submarines so when that Juggernaut shows up, it is going to get a seriously nasty surprise once it leaves port?

Or will they resort to sending in a small strike team to eliminate the Defias leadership as well as the Juggernaut itself?

That decision I will leave up to you readers, naturally if you want the first option which I will call Option A, this will let the Alliance deal with this problem on their own and this will allow the Chief to do his work unhindered and also get to map out all the lands as well as gather supplies, resources, materials, information and the life, plus he will be able to socialize more with the group he's with as well as the residents of some of the towns he will be visiting in the story. Essentially, there's more time for the Chief to establish ties with not just the residents, but his group as well, but there will be little action that caters to combat to speak of.

Or on the other hand, if you readers decide that I go for Option B, the Chief and Cortana go alone and will make a direct strike through the tunnels in Moonbrooke and hit the Deadmines, cause all sorts of chaos for the Defias forces and eventually reach the Juggernaut, face off with VanCleef and company, gather huge loads of information on Defias activity in all of Azeroth and even in Kalimdor, and sink the Juggernaut with some very interesting high explosive materials to turn that jumbo sized ship, into the largest floating bomb in the history of Azeroth. Of course that will cut down on the socializing time and kind of shorten the whole arc so the Chief won't have enough time to do what he came there to do. But this naturally is a scenario that will seriously promise a huge amount of combat and for the Defias Brotherhood, a serious kick in the posterior that will take them a LOT of time to recover from.

And if you all have read how I do battle scenes in this work and my other works, you can bet that it will be…well you get the idea.

So send me your choices, if you want option A, then send me a PM or a review with your choice. And the same process goes for option B so there's no need to get technical about it all. The option that gets the most votes is the one I am going to do in the next chapter of this arc, all right?

As for the soon to come discussions for Varian and John, it will be interesting as John learns all about what the King of Stormwind went through. Naturally John will understand Varian's beliefs and his stance concerning the Horde, but remember, John is a neutral party in all this, he will not side with Varian and the Alliance and he will naturally make that obvious to anyone there who asks him on which side he is on.

The same can be said when he meets the Horde leaders as well, but that is under wraps for now.

…

Another thing I want to touch on is the standard couple route and the harem route, now if everyone wants the Harem route then that will be very interesting for me to work with in the long run. And naturally when the lemons come, we can have shades of the Naruto Dragon Champion Lemon section, only instead of Naruto we have the Chief and a number of fantasy females go at it in certain situations and circumstances. Most if not all of which should be fairly interesting to say the least.

But if we have the standard couple route then I will have to find a way to make the other female characters have their own partners. The choice will be for original male characters from the universe of Warcraft or from the Halo universe, now if we have the characters from the Halo universe, it's going to take some serious elbow grease as well as brain cell activity to figure out just how to introduce them without doing something that is totally cliché and that is something I want to have little of as possible in my stories unless the situation and events call for it.

At any rate, the end results in either choice on who will be paired with our Spartan should be worth all the hard work, brainstorming and good old fashioned elbow grease I will put into it. Also before I forget, the group of slaves that the master Chief had freed before in several chapters in the past will actually come back and be an aid to the Spartan himself, and as to how they will be of aid to the Spartan, that will be a personal surprise of mine in the coming chapters so don't ask me to reveal them just yet.

I will be busy doing more research in both Halo and Warcraft to make this story all the more effective and entertaining for all you readers, and I will taking a break since I have been having some difficulty sleeping at the moment so I will have to rest a bit more in the coming weekends apart from my personal rest day on June 21.

See you at the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: Halo and World of Warcraft don't belong to me period.

Chapter 7

Part 4

Deep Strike…

( ): Thoughts

…

Author's Notes:

I recently thought over the situation that I gave and since everyone seems to want the option B that I placed before would mean that it was the much better option of the two, but I also learned that option A is just as attractive despite the lower number of supporters for that option so I decided to go for a fusion of the two for the time being. So you can bet that the Alliance will call on the Chief but only after they determined that they would need a backup option just in case building a fleet was not going to make it on time.

In this case, the Master Chief informed of this decision while out on his own run of business by none other than Jaina herself as she will arrive there in Stormwind Keep. She will be able to teleport to the Chief's location and give him the decision of Varian and the others when it's over. This will still allow John to learn more about the human members of the Alliance as well as what he can learn about the Dwarves, and the Gnomes. This will also allow him to learn more about the key leaders of the Human race in the Alliance and also get an idea of just how things were in Azeroth when the Second and First Wars were going on and what the people had endured and why there is hostility towards the Orcs.

…

In Stormwind Keep…

King Varian, Bolvar, Anduin, and Tirion were silent as they weighed their options, it was then that Tirion decided to speak to the Spartan.

"Spartan, I must ask you leave the room for now, this is an important matter that has to be discussed in private, the decision we make concerning the Defias Brotherhood may had far reaching effects in the long run."

The Spartan thought it over and nodded in agreement as Varian then got up his throne and walked to the Spartan and gave his own opinion.

"While I do appreciate your desire to offer your services to the Alliance, we will need to debate this further, when we come to decision on the matter, then we will inform you. For now however, I would like to welcome you and your companions to my people's city, feel free to travel in Stormwind under my personal protection, you will need a guide of course…"

Anduin then stepped forward and spoke.

"If you won't mind father, I will be their guide in Stormwind."

Varian smiled at that and nodded.

"I was hoping you would say that son, good luck and make sure to enjoy the sights."

That was when John decided to ask something of the King, he knew full well that there was some prejudice concerning Erin's people the Blood Elves, so why was it that King Varian seemed to be all right with having a Blood Elf in his people's city of all things. This was something that made the Spartan rather curious and he decided that the best way to get answers was to ask them and get things over and done with.

"You're Highness, may I ask a question?"

Varian wondered what this was about but nodded and replied.

"You may."

"Why would you willingly allow Erin who happens to be a Blood Elf here in your city? I do not want to sound offensive to either you or my companion, but considering that there is some level of hostility towards her kind in the Alliance, why would you seem not to be worried?"

Erin bristled a bit at that but she did admit that it was a rather practical and legitimate question for her protector to ask. After all, she was in the Capital of Stormwind and there was no denying that they were part of the Alliance and even though she was allowed to walk in Darnassus back in Kalimdor, it was only due to the fact that she was in the Spartan's protection that she was even allowed to walk there. So why was it that the leader of the Human race of the Alliance was allowing her to walk in his people's capital without much resistance?

Varian nodded and replied.

"The reason for that is because I worked with two Elves, one was a Night Elf Druid named Broll Bearmantle, and the other was a female Blood Elf Valeera Sanguinar, both of them are trusted allies of mine and through them I have been able to learn much about both cultures and they helped me regain my throne and be reunited with my son and my people. That's why I can understand why the Blood Elves hate the Alliance, and this something I intend to rectify when the time comes."

Erin was surprised and was actually quite pleased to hear that, to know that one of her kin had helped the King of Stormwind regain his throne was something that was unheard of and would actually be of great help in the near future for her people. She kept that information mind when she would soon return to Silvermoon City and report to her superiors, if they had not written her off as dead since she had been gone for quite some time now. She then directed her attention to the Spartan to see just what he thought on what the King had just told them concerning his stance towards the Blood Elves.

John looked at Varian and gauged him carefully to see if he was indeed telling the truth or not to him since that kind of information could prove vital in the long run of things. Seeing that the King was serious about this and that was enough for him and nodded slightly as he turned to Prince Anduin.

"All right then, we will take our leave and tour the city."

Varian nodded and looked to his son and Anduin smiled as he moved away and motioned the Spartan and his companions to go with him. As they left the room, Varian sighed and thought over the options that were presented to him as he looked at Bolvar and Tirion as they decided to pour over on all the maps that they had and determine the best course of action that they could take.

It was then that a magical portal appeared and from it came none other than Jaina Proudmoore herself accompanied by Aegwynn. This was enough to surprise the King as he spoke.

"Jaina, what brings you here?"

"I routine visit my King, but I have a feeling that something of great importance has taken place here."

Bolvar nodded with a smile.

"Something has indeed taken place here Lady Proudmoore, it seems that we have met the Spartan who was mentioned by Ambassador Durnhelm and he has brought us some very interesting information as well as helped us deal with a very unsettling manner."

Jaina's eyes widened at that and Aegwynn herself was surprised by what they had just been told, just as Jaina spoke.

"The Master Chief is here? What exactly did he do here?"

…

In Stormwind's roads…

Anduin was currently walking through the roads and showing some of the sights to the Spartan and those who were with him, the Master Chief was quickly taking in the details of the city while also doing his best to scan the area in all details. The details in question being the defensibility of the city, how it can withstand an assault from a determined army, how the defensive forces could react, what weapons could be used to break the walls, how infiltrations teams might be able to break in, etc. This was a usual training response to environments and locations that were drilled into the Spartan IIs when they were young, as this would be key if they were ever in a situation where they would either be defending a location or attacking it at some point in time. Such a way of thinking might seem paradoxical to some as John was in a location of allies, but not to the Chief as he was trained to always have options ready for him to use just in case things went down south.

All in all however, the city of Stormwind was fairly impressive to the Spartan as he took in all the details of the City, the guards were well armed and armored, well trained and disciplined as they moved through their routes to patrol the City roads to keep an eye for trouble. The city was clean and seemed to be having a good level of street sanitation, and there were people who would move about and help clear the streets of any debris. This told the Spartan that the city was well maintained and had a very competent infrastructure to support it.

They were moving through the Trade District and the Spartan observed the various traders and businessmen who plied their wares and the products of their businesses, he knew enough of ancient history to know that a bustling trade district was a good sign concerning the overall health of the city's trade. He looked at the Trade district noting the number of people that came there for many business ventures.

As he turned to Anduin, the Prince was very patient and seemed to enjoy talking about the city, he could see that the young man had great love and pride in his people and the city itself, he could also see that the people who saw the Prince smiled and greeted him. This also told him that the Prince was well received by his people, yet another good sign of the way the people saw the young man.

Anduin then guided them to the park and directed his attention to Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod as he spoke about the Park.

"The Park area was originally the place where most of my people would come and rest up after a very long day of hard work, but now it's being converted into what most people call now as the Night Elf district, I think you all would feel more welcome there since from I gather of your kin, you don't take too well to being in a place like Stormwind."

That was enough to get the attention of the three as Kaelyn spoke out her surprise.

"There's a Night Elf district here?"

Sandra nodded at that as she had been here before but it had been some time so she had forgotten about that."

"It's true, a number of our kin happen to be here and they happen to have a working Moon Well here."

Both Jarrod and Kaelyn looked on in surprise but they decided to see things for themselves as they were soon guided to the location by Anduin and they were utterly surprised to see that there was indeed a Moon Well there in the city of Stormwind, something that they had never thought possible as Moon Wells were usually found in their lands of Kalimdor. They spotted the other Night Elves and the three were happy to see their fellow kin this far out, John himself could see that and spoke to Kaelyn.

"If you want to, you can stay here for a while and relax, I'll move around a bit more and come back with you later."

Kaelyn smiled warmly and nodded while speaking to the Spartan.

"My thanks to you Spartan, we'll do out best not to take too long since you have much left to do here in the city itself."

With that, the others left to mingle with their kind, and that left Erin alone with the Spartan and that was a good thing in the minds of the female Blood Elf since not only would she not have to be around the Night Elves who might take offense to her presence, but the fact that the Moon Well's magic was starting to get to her, she knew that she had to resist it's call to her as doing anything to the Well to feed her hunger would be a very dangerous action that could easily get her into trouble.

Besides that, she was going to be alone with the Spartan and that was a good thing to her in any case as this would allow her the time needed to make sure that she could be with him. Naturally she would have to keep her intentions hidden for now from the young Prince since despite the fact that she had no problem in seducing men, she had some morals when it concerned doing it in public, even more so if there were children watching, especially the Prince. Maybe if he was older and already had some experience she would not mind. But for now, that idea was off limits for her to try and do.

She turned to the Spartan and then to the Prince and spoke to Anduin.

"Are there other places that you can show to us young Prince?"

Anduin nodded and guided them to another district, namely the Docks area, not exactly what Erin had in mind but the large number of vessels and the number of people moving in and out of the ships and carrying a wide array of goods, food, supplies, metals, and more were more than enough to convince Erin of the validity of the approach of the Defias Brotherhood in attacking Stormwind through trade routes on land and eventually the sea. It was then that the group spotted a number of Alliance Troopers making the usual runs in security on the Docks, the Master Chief quickly determined that since there was a military style series of buildings that this was the location of the Stormwind's Marine contingent though these were the medieval versions of said Marine forces compared to the ones that he had to deal with back in the UNSC. However as he looked at the soldiers, he could tell that they were no strangers to fighting so they were skilled and well trained.

He spotted also a number of creatures that made his pause for a moment or two, the creatures seemed to be a fusion of both Eagle and Lion, it took him a moment to realize that he was looking at none other than Gryphons, these creatures were mentioned in the books and scrolls that he had read both in Darnassus and in Theramore Isle. They were the allies of the faction of the Dwarves known as the Wildhammer Clan, these dwarves seem to deviate from their own technological brethren the Ironforge Dwarves, they seemed to more comfortable with being tied to nature and this showed with their ties to the Gryphons.

It was there that one of the dwarves spotted them and moved to greet the Prince with a loud bellow.

"Hail to you Prince Anduin, it's been a while since you came to the Docks District."

Anduin smiled as he replied in kind to the Dwarf.

"It is good to see you again Thargold Ironwing, it has been some time since I last came here."

"Aye, you speak the truth there lad, anyway, who're your guests?"

Anduin turned introduced both the Spartan and Erin to Thargold and the dwarf was a bit curious on who this behemoth of a man in armor was. He gave a hard look at Erin but that didn't last long and he replied.

"I personally have no issues with your kin Blood Elf so don't worry yourself too much since I recall how well you're kind and mine fought together then the Horde came rampaging through the lands, I might not like the path you're kind are taking lass, but you have your reasons. But just so you know though, don't wander about too much, I might not have too many issues with you walking here in Stormwind about, but others might not be so picky."

Erin smirked a bit though she was surprised that not ALL the Alliance thought her people were insane, she then hugged the Spartan close unmindful of the people looking at her and replied.

"Considering who I am with, I think I'm in good hands."

Thargold snorted a bit though he didn't have too bad a reaction and replied to that.

"True, being with the Prince is a good thing, and judging by the fact you're with him of all people. I've never heard of a Spartan before, but I can tell a warrior when I see one. Anyway, I have work to do so I'll let the Prince handle the rest from here."

Wit that done, Anduin continued to tour them through the Docks and showed them the sights and the Spartan was able to see the Light house due to his MJOLNIR Mark VI's built in binocular systems, he also could see that it served as a form of guard tower due to the construction that went into it. He then looked at the ships and found them to be a mixture of military class vessels and civilian ones, however he then spotted a ship that seemed to be much larger and was currently being kept at a further section of the dock, and judging by the number of guards he could see there, that ship must be important to the Alliance for some reason or another.

He looked at them and downloaded the images for study at a much later date, for now however, his attention was directed on listening to the Prince as he guided them around the area. After a while, the group went back into the city and when they got to the Park, they were soon joined by the three other Night Elves. Kaelyn, Sandra, White Claw and Jarrod were ready come along though the two women were not happy to see the Blood Elf being rather close to the Spartan once more.

The Prince then guided them back to the rest of the city, this time they were heading to the Old Town, this was once a collection of the old buildings that had survived the razing of Stormwind by the Orcs in the First War many years ago. The place was crime ridden, but the people cared for this place and with warriors and rogues who serve in the Alliance forces moving about, criminals were not too aggressive, The guards there were quick to form a ring around the group though many of them were wary of not just Erin herself but also of the Spartan as none of them had any idea on who or what he was right now.

And even though he was accompanied by the Prince, they were wary of him though not of his other companions even though they were confused as to what the Night Elf females were wearing. As they toured the Old Town, a number of the warriors and rogues who traversed the location were surprised by this as the Prince moved on and directed his attention to the Alliance Command Center where most of the Alliance military officers and personnel were currently stationed. He was going there to meet some of the officers to have a personal chat with them about the current state of the military who were currently being deployed in different parts of the city.

As they came there, the Spartan looked at the building carefully, studying the design and also looking at the number of people there. While there seemed to be only a handful of people currently in the base, he could tell that they were skilled officers in their own rights, and the way they moved about and seemed to be on full alert. The way they acted showed to the Spartan that they were skilled soldiers and fighters.

The first was a man with a beard that worn some sort of enameled plate armor as well as chain mail and carrying a sword, he apparently seemed to be a high ranking officer in the building itself, the other male appeared to be a dark haired man with some sort of armor that had a combination of leather and plate mail, combining light weight with protection and carrying a two handed sword. The last person was red haired woman who wore green armor and carried what appeared to be a two handed broad bladed spear.

The three were pleased to see the Prince and after chatting with the Prince for some time, the bearded man spoke to the Spartan.

"Greetings to you Spartan, I am Ander Germaine, current leader of the Alliance military forces, and with me are Wu Shen, and Ilsa Corbin, both of whom are long time trainers of the many young and aspiring heroes who come to Stormwind to serve it and the people of the Alliance."

The Spartan nodded and greeted the three with a crisp military salute which surprised them though the didn't mind it too much and returned the gesture. Afterwards, the Prince decided to speak to the three officers and this left the group the chance to rest for the time being and they decided to take some advantage of the down time and the Spartan looked at his companions as they rested in the different areas of the Command center, he decided to get some time to know his group a bit more since even though they had been with him for some time, he was not all that familiar with them in all details.

He naturally started with Kaelyn Nightwalker as he walked to her as she sat down on a nearby chair while he stood next to her, he looked at her carefully to see just what her current frame of thought was and when he was sure that she was comfortable, he spoke.

"Are you all right?"

The Night Elf female looked at the Spartan, surprised that he was asking her such a question, it was not as if it was a bad, thing to her, but it was indeed unexpected. After all, when he spoke to her, it was usually in a more military fashion when something had to be done, this was by far the first time he had ever asked her something like this when there was no mission or task involved.

"I…I'm fine, it's just a bit new to be here in a city with so much…"

"Stone and metal, I understand your situation so I can bet that you were happy to see the Park and your kin who were there as well?"

"Oh yes….it's good to see that even though the city is surrounded by stone and metal, there is semblance of greenery and life there. But I must admit that despite it's appearance…this city is impressive. Still, I prefer to be in Darnassus than anywhere else."

The Spartan nodded and then spoke.

"How did you become a Sentinel?"

Kaelyn was surprised by that but she decided to answer the Spartan's question.

"It was my choice to be a Sentinel, after my family were killed, I decided to dedicate my life to protecting my people and give the enemy of my kin a taste of what it means to court the wrath of the Night Elves. Of course, I also wish to finally meet a worthy man to be with so if I ever decide to retire from active service, I can still ensure that my people will still be able to survive and prosper."

The Spartan seemed to take that in and he spoke.

"So, any luck finding said man in question?"

The Night Elf blushed at that and shook her head at that, she had not expected the Spartan to ask her such a question just like that. Normally such forwardness was not entirely unexpected as some of her own fellow Sentinels would ask her such a question, mostly for humor and sometimes for seriousness. But to hear the Spartan ask the question was a surprise and it took a while for her to reply.

"No….I haven't as of yet."

"Hmmm..."

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Just wondering, I take it you're offended by that?"

"No! It's just….I wasn't expecting that from you of all people Chief."

"I suppose not, I'm not much of a social person so I guess I'm kind of rusty with social functions."

"Oh? Anyway, I haven't found a man as of yet so I can't really give a good answer. By the way, may I ask you a question?"

The Spartan nodded a bit and that was a good sign to her though she hoped that she was not going to ask something that might offend the Spartan when she would ask him this.

"Are there other Spartans like you?"

That was a sore subject as John knew full well that he had no information concerning the others who he considered his brothers and sisters. When he and his fellow Spartan IIs were facing the Covenant, many of them had been killed or lost in some fashion or another and that always was hard to deal with by any standard. He had only been able to be with his team of Fred, Kelly, and Linda as well as Will and a few other Spartans, but after all that had happened to his return to Earth after escaping capture in the Forerunner Dreadnaught, he had gotten no word on the other Spartans, and the only information he had on his fellow Spartans was that they had taken part of a mission of a world known as Onyx, and that was the last thing he had heard from them. It hurt to talk about it and while he preferred to be private on such matters, he decide to answer Kaelyn's question.

"There were….but I don't know where they are right now…"

Kaelyn could tell that this was something that the Spartan apparently didn't want to discuss in any possible fashion and she wondered if she had overstepped her bounds in asking him questions and while part of her said that she should learn more, another part of her told her not to, and she spoke.

"I'm sorry about what I asked…"

The Spartan however shook his head and replied.

"It's understandable, you don't have to apologize to me, at any rate, can you tell me something about the culture of the Night Elves?"

Kaelyn brightened at that and nodded.

"Of course, what is you wish to know?"

"I do not wish to sound….offensive, but why is it that you're people seem to have an adverse reaction to technology? I can understand that some technology is destructive, but not all technology is destructive in itself."

Kaelyn nodded a bit at that question and replied.

"We don't really hate technology, since we do use some of it such as the making of our weapons and the Glaive Thrower, a siege weapon that we have used in the Third War long ago. And we do have stone and metal crafting skills. Our culture isn't anti-technology in nature, technology is not the goal of our culture. Besides, the many people who use technology normally use them for warfare. We hate the Goblins who use technology to deforest the land and scar if for their desire for wealth above all else. We're not as advanced as the Gnomes or Dwarves are, and I doubt we could ever compare to the UNSC where you come from Chief, but we do get by."

"I see…I've also read about your faith, interesting since you seem to venerate many divine beings."

Kaelyn nodded at that, this was a good train of conversation between them as she was enjoying it as this was actually first time that she was talking to the Spartan alone.

"Yes…we worship the Ancients mostly, and namely the Moon Goddess Elune and Malorne the Waywatcher. Of course, you know of Cenarius and how he had been a truly powerful force among us Night Elves, namely to the Druids as well. When he was slain by the Orcs, we hated them for it, though his children grow in power…and one day…they and we will have our chance to avenge his death."

The Spartan remained silent on the matter and nodded for a while until Kaelyn spoke to him once more.

"What about you Chief? Even with all the technology and science of your people and your world, there are faiths there as well?"

The Spartan sighed a bit at that and spoke.

"To be honest, I don't really put much stock in faith and religion, don't get me wrong of course, I understand the need to have faith in some force that can't be explained. But for me, faith was never a focus; we studied religion for different reasons. You might call me…an atheist, a person who does not believe in God or Gods if you want to be more specific. But there is an old saying among the soldiers in the UNSC. 'There's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.' There naturally are religions in my world and the history is rife with them. The UNSC has one standing rule with religion of course."

"Oh?"

"The rule is that as long as you do not start wars over religion or commit heinous acts through extreme religious beliefs, you are free to practice your religion. You could say that the UNSC personnel each have their own beliefs and customs. The three most recognized religions in the UNSC are all monotheistic in nature, the first is Christianity, the next is Islam, and the last is Judaism. They all have different beliefs and customs as well, so despite the fact that they teach their believers to worship one Supreme Being, they have differences."

Kaelyn was not quite happy to know that the Spartan didn't believe in God or Gods but decided not to make an issue out of it for now. She was curious however at these differences and wanted to know more.

"What sort of differences?"

The Spartan spoke out first.

"For example, followers of Islam are required to make a holy pilgrimage once in their life times to their holy city known as the Hajj at a certain holy month, they are not allowed to eat pork as it is unclean in their religion, the same goes for blood, dead flesh, and also alcohol. All the meat they eat must be from herbivorous animals and has been killed in the same of their God. They also pray five times each day and facing the Holy City, not to mention that they are allowed to be polygamists."

"Polygamists? What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a marriage system where a person can have more than once spouse, if a man say had more than one wife, then it's called Polygyny, and if it's in the reverse of the woman having more than one husband, then it is called Polyandry. The law does state however that a man can marry only the number of women he can afford to care for and support in all aspects of life and society. He must treat them with respect, love, kindness, dignity, and courtesy as well. Some countries in the world I come from allow this by law while other countries don't allow that sort of thing."

Kaelyn was surprised by that and she made that fairly obvious to the Spartan.

"Are you serious about that Chief?"

"Yes I am, though it does have it's reasons, I take it you are offended by it?"

"I…am just surprised that such a marriage system even exists."

"I know, anyway, there are other religions that are there since the UNSC is diverse as well so it's understandable that some might have some issues with the different religions that are allowed in the UNSC. At any rate, religion isn't one of my strong points so I don't have much say on the matter."

Kaelyn nodded and kept what she had learned to herself for now, she would report this at a later date, though she did keep in mind that the Spartan was from the stars so it would make some sense that their customs would be different from hers or anyone else's in this world of hers for that matter. She then decided to tell him something about herself a bit more so he would be able to understand her a bit better for the sake of conversation.

"I usually prefer to go and see the Moon Wells in our land as I owed my life to their healing waters more than once."

"Really?"

"Yes, Moon Wells possess a great deal of magic and they are very much sacred to my person, that's why we protect them as best we can. I have carried a lot of wounds in my long career as a Sentinel and it is only through my training and support that I even made it this far."

The Spartan could tell that she was not joking at all when she said those things to him and that actually made him respect her more as she was a warrior like he was, though there was no doubt in his mind that there was more to the whole story but he decided not to go any further for now and he asked her a different question.

"Have you managed to eat yet?"

"No, not right now actually."

"I see, when we get the chance to visit a…tavern, I'll see to buying you and the others some food."

"I, thank you, it's very nice of you to do that for us."

…

As the Spartan moved away, Kaelyn looked at him and wondered just what else she might find out about the Spartan in the near future. But for now she decided to rest as it had been a trying day.

John then sat down to speak with the others, starting with Jarrod himself as the Druid seemed to be meditating somewhat, the Druid stopped in his actions and looked at the Spartan who was nearby and spoke to him first.

"Is there something wrong Spartan?"

"Nothing really, I needed to ask a question or two."

Jarrod nodded and replied to that.

"I will try and provide what answers you want though I hope they are not too intrusive."

"We'll see, how long have you served as Druid?"

Jarrod thought it over and replied.

"At least three hundred years, ever since I was young I wanted to learn the ways of the Cenarion Circle, and I did develop a good level of Druidic talent. I'm not as skilled as many of the other Druids, but I make due, and while I am nowhere near the level of Shan'do Stormrage himself, I wish to be like him and do my part to save my people."

"I can understand that well enough."

"May I ask you a question Spartan?"

"Of course."

"How exactly did you…and Cortana meet? You two seem to have known each other for quite some time."

The Spartan thought back about it and decided to tell the Night Elf about it.

"I met Cortana during the field testing of my previous MJOLNIR, the Mark V, she helped increase it's power as well as support me through the training mission itself. I trust Cortana very much and she trusts me as well. In fact, I even went into what most would call the ultimate living nightmare for her, because I made a promise to come back and rescue her once I dealt with the last remaining leader of the Covenant. I made it in time to save her from the grip of the last enemy I would ever fight and with her help, we finally put an end to the war that claimed many lives in the UNSC."

Jarrod listened carefully and then commented.

"I see…you and her share a very strong bond Chief, I can see it in the way you two would talk with one another. I have to admit that I am curious as to what she really is, she looks human yet I sense nothing from her that is human, only a type of energy that I have never sensed before in my long time as a Druid."

"I can understand that, Cortana is…unique."

Jarrod nodded at that and spoke again.

"Still, I have to admit that the lands of Azeroth are interesting and have their own beauty, however, that location were in….Duskwood, I can't help but feel greatly troubled by what had happened there, something in the air didn't feel right to me at all, didn't you feel that as well?"

The Spartan shook his head though he had to admit that both he and Cortana didn't like what they were able to sense about the location through the scanners that they had on them. He then decided to have a more private conversation with Cortana as he spoke to her via COM system.

"Cortana, you all right?"

The A.I replied to that in her usual self.

"Just peachy, busy archiving all the data you've been sending me so far, nice to know you're actually socializing with others outside of the Spartan circle. Anyway, I've been checking the scans we've made on the path into the Deadmines as well as running several other scans of the place and I think we can pretty much handle this one on our own, but until we get the green light to take this solo mission on the road, then we're going to have to relax and get used to things like this. I know you Spartans dislike doing nothing at all, but doing nothing can be good."

The Spartan mentally snorted at that comment and replied.

"That depends on your definition of good, anyway, I'll be right back."

"Right more with the social stuff, I'll update you on a satellite's latest findings, and don't worry, no one's found the Albatross as of yet so we're still in the green light on that part of the mess."

John nodded and then bid Jarrod farewell for now just as Prince Anduin returned to them and smiled as he spoke to the group.

"It's already time for lunch so if you don't mind, I think it would be best that we head back to the Keep and I'll see if I can have the cooks prepare a good meal for you all."

The Spartan had to give the young prince credit for doing his best to make sure that his guests were well taken care of, but he was not the kind of person to rely entirely on charity, not that he was trying to be insulting or anything but it grated on his goat to be a burden to others since he knew that he was more than able to pull his weight around and be of use in any situation.

"It's a kind offer Prince Anduin, but are you sure that it is all right with you?"

"Of course, after all that had happened, I could at least thank you with a good meal, besides, to be perfectly honest with you, I haven't eaten either."

That comment was confirmed as the group heard the young man's stomach growl, much to his embarrassment and the amusement of the others as well in the building. Seeing the blush on the Prince's face, the Spartan decided not to argue with the young man and go with them. The group moved out and headed back to Stormwind Keep, and it was there that the Spartan decided to see if he could get into a trading run with the young prince, he knew that he had a need for extra supplies of not just metals and other needs, but food as well, getting some much needed supplies would certainly be worth it, he hoped that he had enough money after he sold all the items that he and his group had been able to take from the Defias Brotherhood members that they had already killed but he had to be ready for anything.

"By the way, may I ask a question Prince Anduin?"

"Of course, what is your question about Spartan?"

"I would like to ask if it is possible for me to purchase needed supplies and materials here in Stormwind? I plan to sell what my group and I have salvaged from the Defias Brotherhood and make some money out of it to help buy what I need to restock my supplies."

The young man nodded at that with a smile.

"Of course, I personally believe that you will get a good chance here in Stormwind since you have already arrived here and I will send a letter to the trader's guild to let them know you are here and give you some discounts in purchasing your needed supplies at a much lower expense."

The Spartan wanted to argue, but he quickly did a count of his founds mentally in his head and calculated that he only had a limited amount of money so he would have to be careful with his funds so he didn't have much choice for the time being. He had at least two hundred silver coins and at least a full six hundred copper coins, and without any idea on what was the cost of the supplies he needed to take with him, he could wipe out his money supplies easily enough. He knew that he would have to accept the Prince's offer, the good news that he had was the fact that the young man was more than willing to help him out.

As they moved back into the Palace, the young Prince decided to tell his father about his intention to allow the Spartan and his group to have a proper meal and then drop by the Royal Library and he knew that he needed to speak to his father about that. As they entered the room, the Spartan was surprised as he recognized Jaina and Aegwynn, he had not expected them here though he knew that their presence was understandable as they were part of the Alliance. They were currently discussing several matters and despite the fact that it would have been considered eaves dropping to the extreme, he had to be ready for anything. With that in mind, he quickly homed in his MJOLNIR Mark VI's audio scanners to hear the conversation.

…

In the Throne-room…

Varian sighed a bit and replied.

"It will take time, but we can mobilize a fleet large enough to take out that Juggernaut and with the new technologies we've gotten from the Gnomes and the Dwarves, we can certainly even up the odds even if Edwin does have the advantage for the time being."

Jaina however replied.

"I do not think that will be easy to accomplish my King, if this gets out to the Horde leadership, there is a good chance that elements in the Horde will consider this fleet buildup as an act of aggression. While I have my doubts that Thrall and a few of the other leaders of the rest of the Horde races will react too badly since some of them such as Vol'jin, and Cairne prefer to settle things in a less violent setting, there will be others who might say otherwise, we should at least tell them what is going on here in Azeroth before a misunderstanding breaks out."

Varian snorted a bit and replied.

"Why would they be concerned with an Alliance problem?"

Tirion then answered that particular question.

"They would be concerned since we have not told them the sudden increase in our activity, even more so if the ships we happen to be building happen to be military vessels your Highness. We have to do our best to maintain peace with the Horde since we all are still recovering from the many battles that we had to deal with for the past few months. If we do tell them what is the reason for our sudden increase in military might, then they would be assured that we are not making a militant action towards them."

Varian sighed and nodded at that, as much as he wanted the Horde to stay away from Alliance affairs that didn't concern them, he knew that a sudden military fleet buildup was bound to get a lot of unneeded attention from the Horde leadership as they would no doubt have spy networks in the lands. As much as he distrusted the Horde he knew that he still needed to at least try to maintain some semblance of peace between the Alliance and the Horde, but it was not that he liked the idea at all, there was also the fact that if the operation was a success, there was still the question of what they were going to do with the supposed fleet that they were going to build, if they could somehow keep the fleet's construction from being discovered and they would be covertly deployed, if that could be done with a fleet at this day and age, what would they do with the fleet once the mission was over?

"I understand, however, we have to consider something else, if we were to build a fleet of ships we end up alerting the Horde anyway and if we do succeed in dealing with the Juggernaut that VanCleef is making in that base of his, what do we do with the ships that we've built as well as the crews and marines we will train to man and defend those ships? Once they are used, what exactly do we do with them afterwards? Decommissioning them is a viable option, but we are talking about a fleet here, just as it is expensive to build a fleet, it's just as expensive to decommission them and if the information is indeed accurate it would be very wasteful since we are dealing with one ship, even if it is a Juggernaut."

Bolvar nodded in that regard as he could easily understand Varian's reasoning, once one builds a fleet of ships and the ships as well as their crew completed their task, there was the problem of what to do with them afterwards, it was going to be a real nightmare to disassemble the Fleet as that would be a serious cost in resources, supplies, money, manpower, weapons technology and more.

"I have to agree with my King on this matter, even if we tell the Horde leaders the truth of our actions we still have to take into consideration the sheer cost of using conventional forces, even if we do succeed with defeating this Juggernaut, we would have to decide what to do with the surviving ships and crew, losing the ships in the battle will be very expensive in not just resources and materials, but lives as well. Besides, if this was the plan of the Defias for some time, then there's no telling just how far they have come to building that Juggernaut."

Jaina and the others nodded at this as there was also truth in what Varian had spoken of, even if the fleet was able to defeat the Juggernaut even with losses, what were they going to do with the remainder of the Fleet? It was not going to be wise to maintain a fleet that had served it's purpose as they would be used as a case against the Alliance by the more belligerent members of the Horde, but decommissioning them was going to take time and effort as well.

There was also the fact that they had no idea on the state of the Juggernaut itself as Bolvar had just pointed out, when was it going to be finished? How powerful was it? How long has it been there? What sort of new technology was used in it's construction?

These questions also bothered them greatly as these were still unknown factors that they had to take into consideration as well as what to do with the fleet once they were built. That was placed aside however as the group turned to see the Spartan and his group being led by Prince Anduin, the Archmage smiled at the arrival of the young Prince as well as the Spartan, she had not expected the Spartan to be here in Stormwind of all places but it was nice to know that he was going all right for himself though she was somewhat surprised by the presence of the female Blood Elf herself, she had a feeling that there was some sort of story there somewhere, but she knew that it would have to wait for a better time.

Aegwynn herself was also happy to see that the Spartan was there though she was curious as to why a Blood Elf was with the Spartan's group, considering the animosity that was present between the races of the Night Elves and the Blood Elves. She had a feeling that it was going to be another interesting tale to hear. But for now, she held her peace as Jaina walked towards the young Prince just as Anduin bowed to Jaina.

"Lady Proudmoore, it is good to see you here."

"It's good to see you as well Prince Anduin, I've heard about your adventures with the Spartan, are you in good health?"

"As good as one can get considering what I had to deal with, I was planning to give them a well deserved meal in the dining halls of the Palace before taking the Spartan to the Royal Library."

"I see…"

The young Archmage then smiled at the Spartan and spoke once more to him.

"it's good tyo see you here Spartan, though I will admit that it's somewhat unexpected to say the very least. Regardless, I am happy that you helped rescue Anduin from the Brotherhood, losing his father was hard on not just him but the people of Stormwind as well."

John nodded and spoke in a very respectful tone to the young Archmage.

"It was not a problem Lady Proudmoore."

"By the way, I heard that you were willing to offer your services to the Alliance in dealing with this problem, I have to admit that I am rather curious about the reasons behind your decision since you wish to remain neutral."

"It's complicated, but I am still following my prime directive to defend humanity even though I am not native to this world. I offered my help to show that even though I am neutral and have no desire to meddle in the politics of either Alliance or the Horde, I am not a threat or a danger to either side."

Jaina nodded at that and Aegwynn then came forward and spoke to the Spartan.

"It is good to see you here, unexpected yes, but still good, anyway, you're offer is also going to be considered though there will be some time before a decision can be made, so I hope you don't mind waiting."

"Of course not Ma'am, I will wait for what the council decides."

As the Spartan left the room with Anduin being given permission by his father to allow him to take the group the dining hall and have the cooks make a good meal for the Spartan as well, it was on their way to the dining hall that they encountered Dana and Talia once more as the two friends were there to seek information in the Royal Library. When Anduin mentioned that they were going to the Royal Dining halls, the two decided to come along as they had not been able to get a good meal as well. As soon as they arrived there, the group were allowed to sit down though the Spartan requested that he should get a much stronger chair to sit on since he weighed a lot in his armor. He spotted a tall block made of stone and decided that it would have to do.

To the amazement of the cooks, the Prince and the two human friends, the Spartan was able to lift the stone block with no apparent strain or difficulty whatsoever. The others, namely the Night Elves and the Blood Elf had already seen it before yet it still amazed them at how strong their out worldly companion was. As he placed down the stone piece, the Prince decided to get the cooks back into action.

It was at this time that the Prince asked a number of questions from the group of the Spartan, namely he asked about Kalimdor from Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod as he had never been able to see the lands for himself, namely the lands of the Night Elves, and he was naturally curious about the new lands there and what sort of customs existed in the land. He also asked a number of simple questions to the Spartan and while the Spartan was willing to answer some of them, he managed not to tell anything too revealing about himself and his exact location, only telling the Prince that he had landed in what one would call….contested area. It was not much, but it was far better than telling the young man that he was actually near the borders of the Horde owned lands.

As soon as the food arrived, the group looked on and even the Spartan had to admit that the menu was impressive to say the least, and it certainly was appealing to his senses in every respect. He decided to take off his helmet and that was something that the two Night Elf females and the female Blood Elf enjoyed as they looked at his face once more when the helmet was gone. That was enough to surprise both Dana and Talia as they finally saw his face for the first time and both had to admit that they could see just why the three Elves were seemingly at odds on who was going to get close to the Spartan.

As soon as the meal was over at least an hour or so later, the group began to trade stories, though the Spartan hardly participated and only gave simple yet filling details when asked such questions. He was able to learn more of the two members of the Alliance that had taken part in the operation he was part of. Both Dana and Talia were once part of a much larger party that had been in the land of Lordaeron and had helped with convincing the former Paladin named Tirion to come out of Exile to save his son from the Scarlet Crusade. They had succeeded in that regard as the young man had now seen the level of corruption in the Crusade he served, but was killed by his former mentor and it was the father who arrived to avenge his son in battle with his former ally. A tragic tale but it helped give rise once more to the Knights of the Silver Hand and that also led to the more moderate faction known as the Argent Dawn as well.

John had no idea who this Scarlet Crusade was but until he finally got the go ahead from the people here in the Alliance Command he would have time to work on it. Back at the room where the others were, Jaina soon used her magic to travel to the city of Orgrimmar to inform Warchief Thrall of what was happening in the Alliance. Varian agreed that they should at least inform the Horde leadership of what was going on.

They were still going to discuss matters on their best course of action and while this was going on, the Spartan would remain under their watch for the time being though he was allowed to travel around, though only in the lands that were in the reach of Stormwind itself. Aegwynn also decided to visit the Spartan and help him in gathering more information on the land and history of Azeroth. This was somewhat personal for the former Guardian as she wanted to recall the past and remember things as they once were. Besides it would be good to help the Spartan learn more about the land that he was now part of and also to understand the history between the Alliance and the Horde more clearly.

…

In Orgrimmar…

Thrall was currently looking at the latest reports alongside his advisors and allies Rehgar Earthfury, Zor Lonetree, Eitrigg, Varok Saurfang along with his son Dranosh, the Tauren Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof, and the Troll Leader Vol'jin, alongside Garrosh Hellscream. So far the reports of the Kul'Tiras marine raids coming from Tiragarde, have been a bother but nothing the Horde couldn't handle for now while there were the actions of several other groups such as the Venture Trading Company and the rogue Witch Doctor Zalazane continued to take more of his kin to create his own army. Thrall knew that Vol'jin wanted to reclaim the Echo Isles, the home of his tribe ever since that rogue had begun to enslave the tribe, but now was not the right time.

"The Kul'Tiras raids have been beaten back, but they have managed to cause quite an uproar in the surrounding outposts for now."

Garrosh grumbled and replied.

"We shouldn't bother with them, I say we take a force of our kin and show them the true might of the Horde!"

Thrall sighed a bit and while he knew that Garrosh was not the only one as a number of the other Orcs were also in the same mindset as his hot headed advisor, they were already fed up with the constant attacks being unleashed upon their lands by the Kul'Tiras forces. Thrall was not against military intervention but only as a defensive action against the human raiders as he still had to maintain a peace treaty, even though he had his personal doubts that the Kul'Tiras Marines there in Tiragarde were not the least bit interested in what he wanted, he even thought that if this kept up, he might as well assign some of his people to find a way to deplete the manpower of the Keep and if needed….kill their leaders.

As much as Thrall valued peace between his people and the humans, he could not ignore threats to the security and safety of his people either and knew that he had to deal with them. This reminded him too much of the time Jaina's father Daelen Proudmoore came to Kalimdor and almost right off the port declared war on the Horde. He respected Proudmoore's warrior spirit and his desire to safe guard his people as it mirrored his own, only Daelen's hatred had blinded him to the chance of living in peace with the Orcs, not that his people were totally blameless for the Grand Admiral's anger towards the Orcs.

But that was then, this was now…and as Warchief of the Horde, he had to decide on a course of action soon.

"I understand your thoughts on the situation Garrosh, and we will deal with them soon enough, for now we will have to make sure that more patrols are sent to keep an eye on their Keep and contain them until a more permanent solution is found."

It was then that the Horde spotted a magical portal appear in the room, Garrosh readied his axes, but Thrall stopped him as he quickly recognized the energy that was coming from the portal. He smiled a bit as the magic portal faded and there before them and before them was Jaina, Thrall was surprised by her appearance while the other Horde leaders were curious as to what was Jaina doing here as she had not mentioned that she was coming for a visit.

Garrosh growled a bit and spoke silently to himself.

"What is that Alliance born human mage doing here?"

Unfortunately for Garrosh, Varok Saurfang heard that and the older Orc looked at Garrosh with a glare of warning and spoke to the young and hot blooded red skinned Orc.

"Keep your hatred for the Alliance from this Garrosh, do not forget that it was with her help that our people managed to save your father and in turn he freed us all from the Blood of Mannaroth."

Garrosh grumbled but knew that it was the truth, still it rankled him that this human woman could come and go as she wished in their lands without any opposition.

Thrall then greeted Jaina as the Archmage smiled back at her ally and friend.

"Jaina, I am surprised to see you here, you didn't say you were coming here."

"I apologize for that Thrall, but something came up in the Alliance that I believe that your people had to be informed of."

"I gathered as much, the only reason you would come here at this time is because of something serious, I'm listening."

Jaina then relayed the situation to the assembled Horde Leaders, Thrall himself was quite surprised and angered somewhat that Prince Anduin had been kidnapped as this was something that the Warchief found to be very loathsome. He had heard how the young man had done his best to lead his people after his father's disappearance and he had to give the young human credit for running a kingdom as so young an age. Cairne and Vol'jin listened intently as they were very much wondering just what the Alliance was cooking up for this day. Garrosh remained silent, while trying to see any way this could be used for the Horde while Varok, his son Dranosh, Rehgar, and Lonetree were also listening carefully.

Once Jaina was done explaining the situation, Thrall spoke to her.

"So the Defias have actually been building a Juggernaut to have a mobile base of operations and bleed Stormwind dry by attacking it's sea lanes of trade while their forces on the land attack caravans that are there as well. I can see why this is such a threat that would warrant the building of a fleet to counter it if it ever comes out and attacks Stormwind. Still, the idea of the Defias actually getting their hands on a working Juggernaut is surprising indeed."

"Hmpf, as if those humans actually know how to use such a vessel, that ship belongs to the Horde!"

Garrosh spoke out and Rehgar then spoke.

"Calm yourself Garrosh, do not underestimate the humans for any reason, besides, this would coincide with what I have heard of the disappearance of a number of Goblin merchant groups in the area of Azeroth, they first created the Juggernauts so it would make sense that the humans would have Goblins working for them."

Garrosh grunted at that while Varok nodded, he knew that while the humans didn't have the same strength as the Orcs, their tactics and strategy made them deadly foes and surprising ones as well.

Thrall then recalled something mentioned by Jaina and spoke to the Archmage.

"You also mentioned something about this Spartan who offered his services to the Alliance to deal with the problem, who is this Spartan?"

Jaina smiled weakly and replied.

"He's human…but not the same as I am, in fact, he's not a member of the Alliance nor is he born of any nation here in the land."

That got Thrall curious but Garrosh replied.

"Bah! He is still human and that is all we need to know."

"Garrosh, that is quite enough. Jaina, what exactly can you tell me of this Spartan you speak of?"

"Well, I believe it's best that he comes to you himself and tells you with his own words, you might find that lot more important. Anyway, Thrall, I'll send word as soon as I can on what the decision of King Varian will be on the matter concerning the Defias Brotherhood as well as the chosen course of action that the Alliance will take. Until then there should not be an aggressive response if Varian decides to that approach. I have assurances from both Bolvar and Tirion that as soon as the crisis is over, if the Fleet is built, they will not be used attack the lands of the Horde."

Thrall sighed at that and nodded.

"Very well Jaina, my thanks for bringing us this information."

…

For the next few days, the Spartan was currently reading all the books that he was able to find in the Royal Library and read as many books that he could find about the history, culture, and customs of the lands of Azeroth, he focused on the history of the First and Second Wars as well as the records pertaining to the events that lead to the Exodus of the people of this land to Lordaeron after the fall of Stormwind Keep and the assassination of King Llane Wrynn who was Varian's father, which would explain the times Varian showed some level of animosity towards the Orcs.

Though he doubted that he would get the story from the King directly, the Spartan was able to get enough details to construct what happened. Apparently there was a half Orc female who served as a spy and ambassador to the King named Garona had been secretly an assassin for the Horde and had killed Llane and took his heart, just as Varian walked in when he was a boy. That, coupled with the sight of his beloved homeland and it's crown city in flames and his people being hunted by the Orcs was no doubt the reason why Varian never trusted them. He couldn't blame the man either for all he had endured, in fact, the Spartan showed a level of respect for the Prince, having endured such a sight at so young an age.

However, he had a feeling that there was more to this than just a simple hidden assassin so he shelved his thoughts on the matter aside for now. Cortana herself also agreed with the idea that they should at least take the time to get more details before making any judgments. Aegwynn had helped him a great deal in his search for information and it was there that she revealed who she was and what parts she played behind the scenes .

The Spartan was quite surprised to discover that the woman was actually two millennia old and yet looked as if she had been only in her mid to late twenties. He made that plain to Aegwynn as he told her that for a woman who was in that age, she looked surprisingly young and strong and if she ever told women in his realm how to remain this young looking at her age, she would have been quite famous. The former Guardian smirked at that and didn't seem offended in the least. She told him everything, from the time she became the first female Guardian and how she fought with the Burning Legion, and how the events that happened after she began to let her belief in her superiority blind her to the plans Sargeras had for her. She told him everything and how she felt that she was personally responsible for most of the events that claimed the land.

The Spartan took in all this information and Cortana then catalogued it all when he sent her the data,. He then asked Aegwynn why she would be willing to trust him of all people with such information. The former Guardian replied to that by saying that she senses that he will play a key role in the times to come, if there was one thing that she knew, sometimes it was better to go with your gut and instincts that just knowledge alone.

She had a feeling that despite his stance of neutrality, this same stance can help him shape the fates of both the Alliance and the Horde. He had so much power in his own right like she did, like her, he used his abilities to defend his people but never was arrogant about it, unlike her, her arrogance led to the death of her son, and the ruin of the lands she was in at this very moment and the suffering of so many people. He showed no arrogance with his abilities or his accomplishments, he saw it as his duty to protect his people no matter the cost to himself, and that in her mind made him powerful…even more than her.

John was a bit taken aback by the show of faith given to him by the former Guardian and while he made it clear to her that he put no stock in religion and prophecies, he was still thankful for such faith from one like her. Aegwynn smiled as they continued to speak to one another as he carried on with reading as many books as he could find that would help him.

Apart from that, he took an interest with gathering information about magic, on how best defeat it if he ever encountered magic and had to be more creative in taking out magic users, which was why part of his trips also included trips to the Mage Quarter of Stormwind. He also traveled to the Cathedral Square and was impressed by the sight as he began to read what he could from the books there while being accompanied by his companions though many of the people there were not very welcoming of Erin.

Dana and Talia were there and it was they who helped the Spartan read the books and understand the faith of the Holy Light. Along the way, the Spartan encountered the Archbishop Benedictus, High Priestess Laurena, and lastly Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker, the last two were the ones who trained those who were taking the paths of Priests and Paladins, which was why it was Dana and Talia who introduced them to him. He also saw Brother Crowley and was told by the two that he was the Emissary of the Scarlet Crusade here in Stormwind. That was something that bothered him as he had a feeling that the man in question had been looking at him the very second he came into the Cathedral. He had heard more than enough descriptions concerning the Scarlet Crusade and didn't like it in the least.

While the cause they fought for was understandable, he did not like their methods of just labeling anyone who didn't follow them as undead or undead sympathizers and killing them. Dana and Talia had even told him of finding prisoners being tortured until they 'confessed' to being infected by the Plague of Undeath while in truth they were not. This reminded him of the Spanish Inquisition and even the Salem Witch Trials back in Earth's history, the willingness to kill even innocents was not something that was welcomed. While the Scarlet Crusade lacked the same genocidal tendencies of the Covenant he fought with for nearly thirty years, their willingness to kill anyone regardless of any proof was disturbingly similar to some of the Covenant's willingness to take pure genocide in their religious beliefs.

After some time, he headed back to the Albatross and decided to get himself ready for the final word from the Alliance leaders on whether he was going to go in dealing with the Defias Brotherhood or they would not ask for his help and he would take his leave and continue on his previous objectives though he already had plenty of information to use in the mean time.

…

In the Albatross…

The Master Chief opened on the of the weapon lockers in the heavy drop ship and took out an M7S Caseless SMG, as well as a spare Rucksack to carry his supplies, which comprised of spare ammunition, a number of Frag Grenades, and several packs filled with C-12 Shaped Sachet Charges for the demolition run as well as spare demolition gear. Normally Spartans were allowed to carry what they needed and the move of weighing themselves down with extra ordnance was a bad idea. But considering the fact that he was going into the enemy's own backyard and he had no idea just how many foes he was going to be dealing with as well as what sort of race, there was no reason not to go in with what he can use.

With that frame of thought in mind, the Spartan was also taking along with him a M6C/ SOCOM and placed on the other side of his armor alongside the M7 Caseless SMG. With that done, the Spartan dug into the next locker as he began to take apart some areas of his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, he removed the Flashlight attachment and switched to using a special MA5C attachment known as the Underslung Shotgun attachment. This feature was designed to give the Spartan the edge when it came to fighting in trenches and house clearing and when loaded with the same shotgun shells as the M90A itself without him carrying the actual weapon, this was good to use as a substitute for the said weapon. He quickly got out several packs of the shotgun shells and loaded them up for use in both his Rucksack and into the hidden storage areas of her MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor; he also carried a Combat Knife as well, just in case he had to kill quietly and in an up close and personal fashion.

As soon as he was done, he turned and spotted the others there, none of them were looking too happy that they were not coming with him on this operation, but they agreed not to argue with him about it. Though he could see that Kaelyn did not like the idea of not being able to come with him, the same could be said for both Erin and Sandra as well. Jarrod however seemed to accept the idea as he didn't oppose it at all.

As he got his gear together, Sandra stepped forward and spoke seriously to him about what he was soon going to be doing when it came to the deal with the Defias Brotherhood in the Deadmines.

"Are you really sure that you wish to do this whole thing by yourself?"

"Yes, it's far better than neither the Alliance nor the Horde are deemed to have taken a part in this soon to come battle, I'm an unknown factor here and I will be handling this myself to avoid raising concerns for both sides. With Archmage Jaina convincing the Horde that the buildup of the Alliance Fleet is not an act of war, this should help reduce tensions. Besides, I've been doing operations like this for years, I've got no problems with it. Keep in mind I am only going to move out if I am given the go ahead signal after all."

The others understood that, Jaina had requested that he hold his position and wait until she was able to talk to Thrall and convince him to not view the sudden Alliance Fleet buildup as an act of war, and she also would then have to convince Varian to halt constructing the Fleet once the operation was done as keeping an increased Navy was only going to serve ton heighten tensions between both the Alliance and the Horde.

As the Spartan got his gear set up and ready for use, he spent his time looking at the incoming maps and data that Cortana was bringing in for use in the possible Operation that he would soon be taking part of. No sense not making the right plans while still having some down time. The Master Chief had been trained to make plans as well as contingency options just in case plans fail and the situation turns downright ugly, after all there was a military tactician who made a phrase that resonated for years in the history of the UNSC.

'No plan survives first contact with the enemy.'

The person was none other than Helmuth von Moltke or Moltke The Elder, one of the most recognized military tacticians in the latter 1800s in Earth's history of the country of Germany as he served as Field Marshall to the country in question. It was his teachings that were included into the curriculum that he had in Reach in his younger days to complete his education as a Spartan II Commando. The reason was that while one can plan in the beginning of the mission, once the battle started, the situation would change quickly and turn into a very dangerous or advantageous situation, it all boiled down to the ability of the soldier or officer to adapt and use whatever available options that would be presented in the battle field.

The Spartan knew that anything could happen in the battle field and even though he had the technological advantage, that didn't mean that victory was a guarantee at all, he knew enough of military history to know that battles were won through more than just force of arms, so he was not going to take any chances.

As he ran through the scans given to him by Cortana, he also ran through the information he had acquired concerning the city of Stormwind and the people who call the place home. They were a very strong and hardy people, that much was certain, and they were highly capable even though their grasp of technology was still in it's infancy when compared to the UNSC itself. Given time and effort, the results could be interesting, and the fact that some people were already trying to fuse magic with technology, the results should be fairly interesting.

While he could understand the great deal of tension and wariness that the people of the Alliance had towards the Horde, he kept in mind that they had worked together to fight the Burning Legion years before so they could work well together if ever there would be threats on all life in this world. He however understood the fact that it was never easy to give up one's hatred and distrust concerning the ones who were former enemies, he should now, after all, even though he had developed a sense of respect towards the Arbiter and he saw that the alliance between the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists did prove to be very helpful, he didn't have an easy time with working with the Sangheili and their allies who joined their side when the Covenant Schism happened.

He however decided to give the Horde leaders a chance to show their own side of the story itself so he had a much clearer picture of what he should be doing when the time came to meet them. He knew that just listening to one side was not going to be of much help to him and he had to remain a neutral party and keep out of conflicts between the Alliance and the Horde. He had no reason to side with either of them and he was not going to be bullied or bought into joining either side anyway no matter what would happen in this world that he and Cortana happened to have landed in.

It was not long before he got a visitor as a glowing series of symbols appeared and a pillar of light was appearing in the Albatross and he was quickly to ready himself for an attack, but not before Kaelyn moved to place her hand on his arm which held the M6C SOCOM at the ready to take out the threat that was before him.

"No! it's a Mass Teleportation spell, only Archmages can use it."

The Spartan looked on with a rather high level of curiosity as he scanned the power that was coming off from the spell itself so he would have a more accurate idea on what this was. Cortana was also scanning the energy and she whistled as she spoke to the Master Chief in the COM system that they had on hand with one another.

"That's interesting, the power level is very high and if I'm not mistaken, this is similar to the mass teleportation grid system that is used on the Halo Rings, that brings back memories don't you think so?"

John snorted at that and replied.

"The only memory I had of that was arriving in the Covenant ship upside down."

Despite the fact that he couldn't see Cortana's face, John had a very accurate belief that she was giving him a sour look for bringing that memory up when they attempted to rescue Captain Keyes back on the first Halo ring that they had been on after escaping the Battle of Reach itself, and her next set of words confirmed his thoughts on the matter.

"You never want me to forget that don't you?"

John replied to that.

"True, but you were only starting out after all."

Cortana laughed a bit and replied.

"I guess, still, to hear you say something like that is kind of nice."

The conversation stopped as the light faded and right before the group was none other than King Varian Wrynn, Bolvar Fordragon, Tirion Fordring, Prince Anduin Wrynn, Aegwynn, and Jaina Proudmoore herself. The group was surprised to find themselves in the massive bay of the Albatross and it took a while for them to get used to the fact that they were in the drop ship just as Tirion spoke.

"By the Holy Light, what is this place?"

The Spartan then spoke.

"This is my drop ship, a UNSC Albatross class heavy drop-ship, I wasn't expecting you to appear like this all of a sudden."

"Neither did I actually."

The group turned and spotted Cortana who appeared at a nearby holo-tank, the Master Chief was quite used to seeing Cortana in her regular form and Kaelyn, Sandra, Aegwynn, Erin, and Jarrod were as well, and both Jaina and Aegwynn were able to relax, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the group as King Varian blushed at the sight and quickly covered the eyes of his son as he also looked away, while Bolvar and Tirion looked away with some level of embarrassment, and even though he had only seen Cortana briefly, Prince Anduin was also blushing.

The men had no idea what Cortana was, but that certainly didn't mean that they were not affected by the fact that she was technically naked in front of them despite the fact that data streams were on her body, the comments made by the men were further evidence of that fact.

"My pardon my lady!"

Bolvar stated while Tirion also replied.

"I apologize for this intrusion!"

As for Varian, he was a lot more…vocal about that.

"By the Light and for all that is decent in this world of Azeroth woman, cover yourself!"

Cortana laughed gently and replied as she could understand the way the men were acting towards her, she had become so used to the men of the UNSC and her Spartan protector and friend being used to her in this form, that she had forgotten that by any right, she was completely naked before anyone else even when her body was covered by coding numbers and symbols.

"Sorry, I have been so used to this form that I don't bother with clothes, hang on a moment."

Cortana gave a brief flash of light and when the light faded away she returned and appeared to be dressed in a full body dress which was complete with boots, finger covering gloves and some military style rank and insignia on her as well some unique markings and patterns that were in a different light. This was actually similar to the clothing worn by Dr. Catherine Halsey at times and she spoke to the group before her and the others. (1)

"There, I am dressed now, this better for everyone involved?"

The men looked and seemed relieved that she was finally dressed, Cortana then turned when Jaina and Aegwynn moved towards her with very curious expressions. They had never seen her before as she had not revealed herself when John and the others, prior to rescuing Erin, had been in Theramore Isle, the two women were undeniably curious as to what Cortana was exactly as Jaina spoke.

"Who are you?"

Cortana grinned and replied.

"My full and official name is kind of hard to swallow, but I do have a much more recognizable name, I am Cortana."

Jaina was really curious as she looked at this…being of light carefully, she could sense no magic there at this time though the way this…Cortana spoke to her showed this was a living breathing thing….or something close to that. After all she had learned about the Spartan and the world he came from, she was not going to be surprised that there was a lot more to him that met the eye. She then recalled that High Priestess Tyrande made mention of a female of light that was with the Spartan but she had forgotten all about it. She then spoke to Cortana once more.

"What exactly are you?"

Cortana smirked and replied.

"It's kind of complicated actually, let's just say that I am what I am, and I think I should be a bit larger so you all won't have to worry about looking down at me all the time."

With that in mind, Cortana moved off the holo-tank and actually became human sized, right before the assembled group, even John was slightly surprised as Cortana was about the same height he was though she was still wearing her clothes and still in her A.I form. The now human sized A.I was quite an attractive sort in a very odd way as the gathered men couldn't help but stare, even Jarrod was quite surprised by what he was seeing.

John sighed a bit and spoke directly to Cortana.

"Did you really have to do that of all things?"

The A.I laughed a bit and replied.

"I wanted to try it out, besides, it's a lot better than remaining in my older form since they would have to bend down a bit so I decided spare them the backaches."

The Spartan sighed a bit and as soon as things were squared off, the gathered heads of the Alliance in Azeroth as well as Theramore told the Spartan what they had been discussing for the last number of days since they had learned about the full plans of the Defias Brotherhood, and as much as Varian and the others such as Bolvar and Tirion believed that this was an Alliance matter, they decided to allow the Spartan to do his mission of taking out the Defias Brotherhood's Juggernaut and their leadership as well. It was then that Varian decided to give the Spartan an offer.

For every leader and officer of the Defias Brotherhood he was able to kill and bring proof of their deaths, he would be rewarded a cash bounty. This would not be the same as the amounts that they would have used in readying the Fleet that would have been sent out to deal with the Defias and their Juggernaut, but it would do for now. He was also given the right to take any and all coins he could find on the Defias forces he killed and be allowed to see any of the items he recovered or keep them.

Bolvar also offered a cash bounty on any and all documents that he could recover from the Defias Brotherhood that would be key in telling them what was the scope of the operations being done by the Brotherhood in Azeroth and anywhere else for that matter. This would give them a much needed edge as well in fighting the actions of the Defias when the time came for more direct action.

As soon as the meeting was over, the Spartan decided to agree with them as their plans made some level of sense and at least he was going to get something good out of all this that he was going to do. Cortana herself nodded in agreement with the whole thing and when everything was finished, Jaina teleported herself and the others out of the Albatross and head back to Stormwind to await the results of the operation, but not before Varian gave the Spartan a letter to give to the head of the People's Militia there in the site of Westfall.

As soon as everything was set, the Spartan then got the Albatross to fly off to the location of Westfall. As soon as they arrived, the number of people who resided there in Westfall were naturally surprised at the arrival of the Albatross and no doubt that it was going to be quite an attraction for any passing by Defias patrol. But the People's Militia were more than willing to fight with the Defias anytime, the leader of the Militia, a Paladin named Gryan Stoutmantle and his Captain, a man by the name of Danuvin.

The Paladin walked over to the Spartan with the hammer he carried at the ready and spoke to him.

"Who are you stranger?"

The Spartan presented the letter to the Paladin and the man read it, he seemed calm and focused as he read the letter three more times. As soon as he did so, the Paladin looked at the Spartan and spoke to him very seriously.

"So you've been given permission by the King to deal with the Defias forces permanently. I am relieved that some help came, though I am not entirely happy that it's not coming from anyone from the Alliance….but seeing how things are at this time, I can't exactly argue. Anyway, you can find those bandits hanging out in Moonbrooke which is a fair distance from here. Do what you can with those bastards and deal with them once and for all. I still can't believe that those thugs and cutthroats are being led by a man like VanCleef, but times change, so we must to. Good luck and may the Light guide you."

The Spartan nodded and walked back into the Albatross and spoke to his group.

"Listen to me, you all will have to stay here and keep out of sight, that goes double for you as well Erin, remember, there's no doubt that the people here will not take kindly to a Blood Elf in their lands to stay here in the Albatross until I get back, understood?"

The others nodded and with that done and out of the way, the Spartan moved out into the land, unmindful of the looks being given to him by the residents of Westfall. He could tell that many of them were desperate and needed help in dealing with the Defias Brotherhood to reclaim what was once theirs. The Spartan focused himself on the mission before him and made his way to Moonbrooke. It took him some time to reach the location itself, but as soon as he got to the outer areas of the abandoned town, he was quick to spot a number of Defias patrols in the area. And judging by how better equipped the seemed to be, he had indeed found their base of operations.

With that fact confirmed and Cortana feeding him the visual data of the town and therefore it's map layout, he moved in to do his part to bring the Defias Brotherhood down.

…

In Moonbrooke…

The Defias group was that guarding the entrance to their base of operations had no idea what was about to hit them as the Spartan got into position and looked at the targets before him. He quickly counted them numbers that he was soon going to be dealing with. He counted at least several armed guards and from the way the others were dressed, a group of mages, those were going to have to be first to go as he got out his M7S SMG, extended it's collapsible stock to full length and got ready to engage as he moved swiftly into the abandoned town. He hugged the nearby walls and spotted one guard moving his way with a torch.

The guard was unable to say anything as she suddenly found herself looking at her own face through a golden plate which was shown by her torch as she was now face to face with a behemoth clad in green and black metal armor that dwarfed her easily, but that was the only thing she would see as she had her neck gripped in a hand with the strength of steel, and the only thing she heard before darkness claimed her was the sound of her neck bones being broken easily like they were nothing by dry matchwood.

The Spartan quickly disposed of the body and killed the torch as he moved in deeper into the town, he spotted two more Defias Brotherhood and it seemed that they were deep in a conversation and not paying attention as he quickly rushed in and took careful aim. One thing that was unknown to most people was that Spartans were able to move like shadows and while John was not exactly the best in terms of subtlety among his fellow Spartans, he was more than able.

He charged in and quickly fired three rounds each into the two Defias members, one round each in the head and two in the back. He rushed in quickly, grabbing both bodies and dragging them away with terrifying ease into a nearby house. Once he was done, he moved out and began to stalk any other members of the Defias Brotherhood while sticking to the shadows. He spotted another Defias member, a male mage this time and he quickly moved in and grabbed a nearby rock and with precise aiming, threw it at high speed at the mage. In the hands of a Spartan, anything was deadly weapon, even more so when thrown with the use of their augmented strength and the enhanced power of their MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor series.

As the mage was about to find out as he was hit right in the left side of the temple with such force that he actually heard his skull crack from the impact of the stone. He was reeling and was about to cry out in pain and try to find his attacker, but all he saw was a blur of motion when he was suddenly hit in the chest with such force that his ribs were shattered as the Spartan punched hit hard in the chest and back into the shadows. As soon as the Spartan did so, he spotted another Defias member moving in and after checking that the mage was dead, he moved in and fired his weapon.

The only thing the Defias guard felt was a powerful punch-like blow that hit him hard on the side of the head and the wet feeling on the side of his head, he looked to see a hand ion black with green armor come out from the shadows and grab him before he could cry out, not that he could as he died on the spot. The Spartan quickly killed the torch the guard was carrying and with both bodies secured, he moved on, he moved into a house after avoiding another patrol and decided to set a trap as he spotted some rope and took out his Combat Knife.

As soon as he was ready and spotted a nearby duo of Defias Brotherhood on patrol, he made some sounds to get their attention. As soon as they stepped in and tried to look about, the Spartan attacked, throwing his Combat Knife right into the throat of one of the Defias and killing her in a moment, while he quickly looped the rope around the other one's neck and quickly pulled both ends, hearing the sound of breaking bone as the Defias died without a sound.

The Spartan dragged both bodies away and retrieved his Combat Knife, he cleaned it and placed it back on the sheath and moved on to hunt down the rest of the guards. He didn't have to wait long as he leaned into the nearby wall as a trio of them approached, he looked a bit and spotted a female mage there between them, he quickly saw that avoiding them was out of the question and decided to take a more proactive approach as he quickly moved out of his hiding place, quickly locking in and pressing the trigger with crisp military precision.

Nine rounds were unleashed from the M7S SMG before the Defias could even react as the Mage between the two men was sent to the ground with three smoking holes in her, one in the head between the eyes while two were in her chest where the heart was. The Defias were shocked but they too were soon joining their female comrade as they dropped dead with the same injuries in them as well.

The Spartan was quickly able to reach the bodies and take them away from the scene and afterwards, went on to kill even more of the enemy as he was focused on clearing out the abandoned town. It was not long before the last of the Defias bands in the area noted that their comrades appeared to be missing, there was no sign of other torches in the town and that was more than enough to get them on edge, That was then that the Spartan quickly charged into them, forgoing stealth altogether and killing them just as they turned around. The Spartan moved so fast that the last Defias only had time to cry out in surprise and the Spartan smashed a powerful kick that sent the man smashing hard into a nearby wall building and the sound of the man's breaking bones filled the area. The attack was silent and swift as the Spartan's MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle's weapons fire was muffled by the silencer that he had placed on before.

As soon as he was done, the Spartan gathered the bodies and after taking them to a nearby house, he stripped them of anything that was of value to him in any possible fashion. As soon as he was done, he quickly did a full count on what he had been able to get from the slain Defias forces and most of it were potions and also the coins, he was going to come back and retrieve them soon enough when he was done with his current mission. With all of that stacked away, the Spartan moved to the location where the entrance was. He found it and soon was deep underground, and he moved through the tunnel system towards the Deadmines.

…

In the tunnels leading to the Deadmines…

As soon as he was in the mines, he quickly consulted the seismic scans that Cortana provided him of the tunnel system, he moved out, keeping to the shadows and made sure to avoid getting any attention as he carefully scanned the enemies before him. The enemies comprised of men wearing leather shirts, boots, bracers, and pants and armed with pick axes, the next type he could see were men wearing a mixture of leather and metal armor, carrying shields and short swords, and the last were a number of women who were wearing red dresses and the red scarves of the Defias and were armed with staves, he scanned them all and the first pair of foes had no magical energy signatures, but the females were radiating them, this told him that he was facing mages.

The Spartan realized that with the situation as it was, stealth was very much out the window, he took out a pair of C-12 Shaped Charges and quickly set them up while moving forward with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle at the ready. The first batch was quickly cut down before they could respond as all they saw was a blur of motion that came right at them and killed them quickly and efficiently, those who recovered tried to attack but the Spartan quickly killed them without much trouble.

He then pressed the detonation button and took off in a run as the C-12 went off in a massive bang that sent the tunnel behind him falling down, he quickly fired massive bursts of his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle while unleashing blasts from Underslung Shotgun, the results were obvious as the blast had quickly got the attention of all the Defias forces before him as he moved through them. As John ran fire rapidly unleashing his Assault Rifle's hail of bullets as well as the Underslung Shotgun's shells, the Defias Diggers, Henchmen, and Conjurers, were dropping like flies as he ran past them. The first group's armor was no match for the weapons of the Spartan as the bullets tore through them. The Conjurers barely had time to cast any spells as several of them were cut down by the Spartan's bullets and shells while those who were foolish enough to get in his way were sent aside as he wracked aside like they were mere dolls. The tunnel behind the Spartan was soon collapsed, ensuring that were was going to be no escape for anyone in the Deadmines

The first bunch of these Defias forces that were before the Spartan died quickly just as the Spartan reloaded his MA5C with a fresh clip and unleashed more of his attacks while taking out a Frag Grenade and tossing right into the next bunch while killing more of them on the move, the Grenade had landed in a group of Conjurers and exploded, leaving behind many wounded as the Spartan took out more of the enemy quickly and effectively while still on the move through the rest of the tunnel complex. As he made it through the next part of the tunnels which were much larger than the ones that he had left behind and sealed behind him with the C-12 Shaped Charge, he encountered another pair of Defias forces that were already charging en masse on him.

The first group were men who had no upper clothing on and had only pants on as well as bracers and boots while armed with Pick axes, the other group were fewer in number but were better armed than the first though they carried no shield, they appeared to be armed with some sort of throwing weapons as they aimed right at him. The next were also female and also seemed to be mages judging by their magical aura, but unlike the first, they were in black and grey dresses. They seemed to be charging their spells already, no doubt the first few groups were to slow him down while their spell casters were to weaken him or finish him off.

However, the first groups quickly found out that their new quarry was protected in a very unique and effective fashion as their weapons bounced of the MJOLNIR mark VI's shield systems and the Spartan quickly made them pay for it with powerful physical attacks while killing a number of the mages that were trying to support them. The women in question barely had time to react when he was quick to make short work with several accurate blasts of Assault Rifle fire before moving to his M7S SMG in full extension and killed more of them. It was not long before the Spartan was walking through a mass of bodies what were either torn apart by gunfire, or pulped by his melee attacks. The Defias continued to attack the Spartan, but their attacks were useless as he moved too fast for them to easily hit him and even if they did, their attacks barely took anything from the Master Chief's shield gauge.

As soon as the battle stopped, the Spartan wasted no time and quickly reloaded his M7S SMG and then collapsed the stock and took out the M6C SOCOM and moved on ahead. As he arrived there though the next series of tunnels, he was surprised to see what appeared to be skeletons and undead. He read about them and truth be told, he had seen far worse due to the Flood and their actions towards living and dead bodies. However, it was still surprising to see such things for a man of a world where science ruled and magic was disproven. The undead things came right at him but he was ready and unleashed a hail of bullets at the skeletons, reducing them to heaps of bones.

He spotted what appeared to be Ghouls almost the same as the Flood Combat forms who carried no weapons but were nasty either way, all of them were like raving beasts and were trying to speak something. He was then surprised when he heard them actually trying to form words to him.

"Release….uuuussssss…."

"Killllll…..usssss….."

The Spartan recalled that there were occasions that some undead recall their past lives and being driven mad by their state of Undeath, many of them would beg to be freed from their torment in any possible fashion, though the most common was death. He decide to free them but knew that even his fire power alone would not be enough so he naturally had to find an alternative to end this quickly. He looked at the bodies and spotted what appeared to be explosives of some sort on them and quickly took aim with M6C SOCOM and fired at them, hitting them dead center to unleash the black powder in them, the trails that fell began to cover the floor as he waited for all of the shambling undead to be all in a massive pile, As soon as they were, he ran and leaped over them, as soon as he hit the ground, he quickly got some abandoned tools and struck them hard to create sparks on the gunpowder.

The result was explosive to say the very least as the undead ghouls were blown apart and sent into a flying mess all over the place. However the Spartan had no time to react as he quickly turned and rolled over as another Ghoul came at him. This was a much stronger one and seemed to be more powerful than the ones he had just taken out and to his surprise, the thing carried a pickaxe.

The ghoul didn't stop as it lashed out at the Spartan with the Pick axe, the Master Chief ducked the next attack and then kicked out and forced the Ghoul away from him. The creature roared and the Spartan used his M7S SMG to knock aside the pick axe while introducing the M6C SOCOM into the thing's face and unleashed a hail of bullets into it's face. He then charged in shoulder first and sent the creature smashing into the rock wall as he spotted some still intact dynamite and kicked it into the mouth of the creature, he then moved back and took out a nearby torch and tossed it like a knife at the Ghoul. The torch hit the neck and detonated the dynamite as the Spartan was able to get into some cover as the blast rocked the tunnels but thankfully this section of the tunnels were much stronger and the place didn't fall apart around the Spartan.

He took his time to study the undead and to his surprise, he found a number of items on the undead, some appeared tobe cards with the names of the apparent owners and something called the Miner's Union. He decided to take these and then spotted a medallion nearby. The medallion in question appeared to belong to the Ghoul he had just reduced into ruined body parts. It appeared to have a name there.

'Foreman Thistlenettle

Member of the Explorer's League'

The Spartan recalled that both the Miners' Union and the Explorer's League were organizations based from Ironforge, the dwarven capital and wondered how this got here. Deciding to shelve those answers for now, he placed the items in his Rucksack and focused on his mission after reloading his weapons.

He moved on and to his surprise, he spotted a woman who carried a sword and carried herself as a leader and warrior, he could also see through the special scanner system that she was gifted with magic. She was not alone as another person appeared, wearing the robes of a noble and carrying a staff of some sort. The woman then spoke to him in a tone filled with cruelty and amusement.

"Who are you eh? Never saw your armor before, certainly not standard issue for the Stormwind City Guards or the People's Militia. No matter. You might have made it this far, but you're life ends here!"

The Spartan wasted no time in verbally answering the woman as he moved in at full speed, startling the two as they had not expected someone wearing that kind of armor being able to move that fast before. The Spartan decided to save his ammunition and placed aside his MA5C and took out his Combat Knife and quickly closed the distance with the Noble who tried to attack him with a strike to the head. The blow was weak and useless against the energy Shield in the Spartan II's Powered Assault Armor as the staff shattered in a shower of wooden splinters as the Spartan quickly took the largest one and stabbed the man in the chest with amazing force, impaling him in the chest easily. The Spartan quickly tossed the Combat Knife right into the woman's throat, cutting deep into her flesh as she gurgled in shock and pain.

All Marisa du'Paige could do was looking horror at her own face being reflected back at her by the armored being's face as the Spartan was quickly before her and grabbed his Combat Knife and with deft motions….decapitated the woman and sent her head flying back at her body fell down in a heap, blood pouring from her body while she still held her sword in hand.

The Spartan checked them and moved on after cleaning his Combat Knife and took out his M7S SMG and the M6c SOCOM and moved in, soon enough the Defias forces came at him and all of them were armed with Pick axes, the next bunch of Defias forces were females armed with Swords and wearing scale mail and leather and the last were old men who were mages as well and armed with staves as well.

The Spartan quickly began to cut down the charging forces with his guns, using the M6C SOCOM for head shots, sending blood, flesh and brain matter all over the place as more and more of the Defias Miners came at him. He placed aside the M6C and took out another Frag Grenade and tossed it into the Miners, while also leaping over them as the Grenade exploded, as he was in the air, he grabbed a flying pick axe in his free hand. As soon as he caught it, he tossed it with terrifying accuracy and it smashed point first into the chest of one of the Evokers just as he landed right in between three of the armed Defias women . the women tried to attack, but their swords bounced off the shields easily and the one before the Spartan got a stomach full of Caseless rounds as he fired the M7S SMG point blank. The woman fell down and before her comrades could react, the Spartan grabbed her sword and placed the SMG to his side and took out the Combat Knife and gutted the two of them while standing up quickly and tossing his Combat Knife into the forehead of one of the Evokers about to cast a spell. As the man fell dead, the Spartan took a sword and quickly went into a dual wielding attack, unleashing a storm of attacks.

Defias Miners and Overseers tried to fight but their efforts were for nothing as they were being cut apart as the Spartan moved like a whirlwind of destruction. Blood flew everywhere, wetting the floor and the walls, bodies fell with deadly wounds while limbs were even sent flying about as the Spartan used what he learned in his training with his comrades in sword skills as well as what Cortana had shown him. It was not long before the last four survivors were no longer willing to fight as they saw the Spartan slaughter their comrades as if they were nothing. It was not surprising as they saw the Spartan move with both swords with such terrifying speed and strength, cutting down their comrades and workers like they were merely dolls.

Blood splattered all over the Spartan's sword as both blades were now crimson colored with blood and that was reflected by the light of the torches in the area, the four, two Evokers and two Overseers, decided to run, but that was a mistake as the Spartan quickly changed his grips on the swords in hand and held the blades, taking mere nano-seconds to make the study of the swords' balance, he tossed them with all of his strength. The throws were so powerful that they tore easily through the backs of the Evokers and as the Overseers turned, their comrades who were now dead slammed into them…with the swords plunging into their stomachs with great force, killing them as well.

The Spartan moved over to the Evoker he killed before and pulled out his Combat Knife and cleaned it he then placed it into the sheath as he now took his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle in hand and loaded it with Shotgun shells. He moved into the room and then saw a one headed Ogre armed with a two handed Hammer and the giant roared as he charged at the Spartan like a Brute Chieftain wielding a Gravity Hammer.

"VanCleef pay big for your head!"

The Spartan charged right at the Ogre and quickly leaped forward like a missile and smashed hard into the chest of the Ogre, stopping the charging behemoth in it's tracks hard and fast. The Spartan then unleashed a barrage of Shredder Rounds as he had loaded those rounds into his MA5C before. The results were bloody as the Ogre was being covered by gouts of his own Blood, the Spartan then leaped back as the Ogre tried to swat him off of it's chest. The Master Chief quickly avoided several other attacks with the Ogre's hammer and quickly shot the legs of the Ogre. The creature roared in pain at the attacks as the Spartan quickly moved in and struck with a powerful kick to the left knee, his strength breaking the bone and forcing the Ogre to it's knees as the Spartan quickly thrust the MA5C forward, smashing the weapon into the Ogre's mouth as he fired a blast of two Shotgun shells and a burst of Shredder Rounds, the results was the back of the Ogre's head exploded out and the ogre was dead as it fell to the side in a loud crash.

The Defias pair were stunned at how quickly this armored behemoth killed the ogre foreman as one of them spoke.

"He….took out the foreman….just like that."

"He's a Demon!"

The two barely had time to react as the Spartan quickly moved in and killed them quickly before they could even react, and as they died, the heard the Spartan reply to what they had said before he killed them.

"I've been called that before."

…

As the Spartan continued to fight through his foes with a combination of gunfire, hand to hand combat skills and knife combat skills, he was leaving bodies all over the place as well as large pools of blood and body parts, and soon entered a room that appeared to be some sort of Mast making room, the kind of place where masts for massive ships were being made. He heard something massive moving and thought that it was another Ogre but it sounded mechanical and sure enough it was a massive Shredder before him and from the looks of things a much better constructed one than those owned by the Venture Company that he fought with before.

He looked to see the Shredder's Goblin pilot grin at him and speak.

"You are good whatever you are, yet you will die here!"

The Goblin quickly used the Shredder's blade to try and kill the Spartan but the Master Chief quickly avoided the attacks and fired several rounds into the Shredder, even though he knew that the Shredder rounds in his Assault Rifle were not going to do any good on the Shredder's Armor, he used them to distract the Shredder as he quickly reloaded the Assault Rifle with FMJ/AP rounds and as soon as that was loaded, he quickly went on the attack, dodging and avoiding the attacks.

He then leaped between the legs of the Shredder and as soon as he got on his feet, he leaped up and landed on the back of the Shredder and unleashed a barrage of rounds into the Shredder, causing considerable damage and he aimed at the hydraulic plant to finally disable the Shredder, the Goblin then tried to escape, thinking that his ejection seat would save him. He didn't count that the Spartan quickly leaped after and just as he landed and turned to kill the Spartan, he was shocked to find the Spartan there before him and before he could attack, the Spartan quickly lashed out with a powerful elbow strike on his head, shattering his skull with one strike.

…

As the Spartan ensured that the Goblin was truly dead and the Shredder was totally disabled, he moved on, encountering more resistance as he continued to use his attacks of gunfire, hand to hand combat skills, and melee skills, he targeted the magic users first, isolating them from the others and making sure that they would not escape as he was making sure to conserve his ammunition as he knew that he was already half way through his ammunition supplies. But it didn't worry him too much as his weapons and abilities were more than enough to handle the Defias Brotherhood that came towards him. He then spotted what appeared to be some sort of Foundry and fought his way past the forces. He then encountered a number of Goblins as one of them shouted.

"You! You think you can stop my experiments? I will see you dead!"

The Spartan snorted and attacked them, one of them used a device to summon some sort of Golem, it hardly worried the Spartan as he moved with one arm and easily tore the Golem in half with one solid punch in the mid section as the armor it had on was not enough. Both subordinate Goblins and their leader was surprised and tried to attack en masse, but they paid for it as the Spartan's shields took their attacks with little to no damage and they were blasted by the Underslung Shotgun of the Spartan's MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and the leader had his mace blown off along with his hand as the Spartan lashed out with his hand and ripped the Goblin's throat out without any difficulty.

As soon as he was sure that the Foundry was clear, he moved out and reloaded his weapons to make sure that was fully ready for anything else that was happening soon before him. He then fought through more of the Defias forces which were Taskmasters, Strip Miners, and Wizards with the same style as before while improvising every now and then until he spotted the door and decided to see what he could do with the door. He spotted the barrels of gunpowder and knew that the stuff could be used to blast open the door but decided against it and quickly punched through the door quietly by using a precise strike, As the door opened, he decided to take the barrel with him. He looked and finally saw the Juggernaut and he had to admit that it was a huge ship as far as old fashioned ships went.

He spotted a number of Defias forces and decided to thin them down a bit as he went back into the rooms he had left and began to take all the sharp objects that he could and when that was done, he took the fuse and then with all of his strength, tossed the now lit barrel into the congregation of Defias forces. They only had moments to react as the barrel exploded with tremendous force and the sharp objects that the Spartan had placed in were quick to fly about like shrapnel and cut down a number of people, wounding and maiming many of the gathered forces. That was naturally the call of the Spartan to quickly charge in and attack the now stunned and divided forces of the Defias, but not before tossing Grenades ahead of himself to unleash more pain as more of the Defias were killed by the blasts, adding more of the confusion that the Spartan was more than willing to exploit.

…

In the docks leading to the Defias owned Juggernaut's ramp…

The Spartan managed to fight his way past all the Defias forces as the area behind him were red with blood and bodies of the female and male members of the Defias were everywhere. The Defias Brotherhood on the docks tried everything to stop the Spartan from getting ever closer to the ship but he was quickly moving in and out of their line of fire, every weapon that could fire at range was useless as the shields he had were more than able to take the damage while his guns were more than adequate for him to respond in kind. One line of Defias Pirates tried to fire their weapons at him but he quickly moved and tossed a grenade into their ranks. They tried to scatter, but the Grenade had been 'cooked' in advance by the Spartan before he tossed it into them so just as they were about to escape, they were blown apart as parts were sent scattering all over the place.

Another batch tried to attack the Spartan en masse with their cutlasses, but like those before them, the women were shocked out of their skin as their weapons couldn't cut through the energy shield that the Spartan had on his MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor. They paid for it as the Spartan went close combat and used elbow strikes, back hand strikes from his hands as he alternated his grip on his weapon, strikes from the butt of the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, and kicks as well as knee strikes. The results were brutal and explosive as many of the pirates were sent flying back in bloody heaps as the sounds of bones being broken were heard all over the place.

The Spartan quickly killed several Defias SquallShapers before they could use any spells on him as he fought his way the Juggernaut as more of the Magicians attacked, unleashing a stream of fireballs right at him. The combined assault exploded the docks and the Defias thought that it was the end of it, but they were wrong as a moving object struck deep into their ranks and that exploded and sent them falling back in bloody messes while those who were still alive saw the Spartan just run through the flames without even a single mark of damage on him as there was only some sort of golden glow that was around the Spartan as he landed and continued to attack with terrifying speed. The Defias Brotherhood tried everything that they could but they were not going to get far as the Spartan continued to unleash more and more of his rounds at the enemy and they dropped down easily by the Spartan's attacks.

He then found himself facing a Tauren, he had read of their kind in the library of Theramore Isle and got ready to fight the creature as this one was going to be a challenge and from what he had heard, this one was the First mate of the Juggernaut. The two guards appeared and tried to kill him but he was quickly about to counterattack and easily tore them apart with blasts from his Underslung Shotgun in the stomach as their armor was no defense against the shells, especially at this range.

The Tauren roared at him and charged with his sword at the ready, the Spartan ducked and evaded the attacks as the creature spoke to him in a very angry voice.

"I am going to kill you landlubber, I don't know who sent ye, but I do not care, you will die here!"

The Spartan however quickly charged in and smashed a fist into the Tauren's stomach that forced it to stop in it's tracks, the Spartan then unleashed a massive hail of rounds as well as Shotgun shells into the body of the Tauren. The result was a massive amount of blood spilling from the Tauren as it roared out and quickly stomped his foot. The attack was enough to stun the Spartan as the Tauren turned to get a more powerful weapon. However, that action as a mistake as the Spartan was able to recover easily and he charged quickly at the Tauren and slid down with a powerful sliding kick that shattered the back of the Tauren's right knee, stopping the creature and it roared in pain as it had never expected his foe to be this fast to recover. The Spartan quickly moved aside and got on his feet and introduced his MA5C and first the next shell right into the neck of the kneeling Tauren, ripping a massive chunk from the neck and killing him easily.

He then moved through the ship and killed more of the Goblins that tried to take him out until he faced off with none other than the Captain of the ship, which to his surprise was a Goblin. However, he placed that aside as the Goblin charged right at him and his human body guards as well as sort of fish like humanoid that he recalled were known as Murlocs. The first body guards were female and attacked with swords and knives, the Spartan decided to use his Combat Knife to conserve his remaining ammunition stores and quickly blocked the first guard's attack with his forearm as the sword hit the shields, he quickly punched her in the chest, shattering her ribs with little effort and then using his blocking arm to get her sword. He then kicked her aside and sent her off the railing and quickly evaded the next guard's attacks as he quickly slashed her right thing, aiming for the femoral artery and cutting it deeply with his knife, he then cut off her left arm with the sword with one powerful slash and then stabbed her in the back into the heart with a reverse grip on his Combat Knife, he then tossed the sword right into the chest of the Goblin Captain and rolled away, taking out his M6C SOCOM and as the Murloc tried to attack him with a cry of anger, the Spartan moved forward and smashed into the fish like being, introduced his M6C SOCOM into the mouth and unleashed the rounds into the fish being's brain, the result was a splattering mess of flesh, scales, blood, and brain matter all over the deck.

The Spartan reloaded his M6C and moved on, he scanned the Juggernaut and soon heard shouting and located the source to the cabin in front of him. Without any finesse on his part, the Spartan moved out and kicked the door down and walked into the Cabin.

…

In the cabin…

Edwin glared darkly as the Spartan stood before him, he cradled his swords in hand and shouted that imposing figure.

"You bastard! You dare to come here to my Brotherhood's realm? I will kill you for this!"

The Spartan replied to that easily.

"You're lieutenants said the same thing, and now they are all dead, and so are you Edwin VanCleef."

The leader of the Defias Brotherhood saw that there was no other way and ordered his guards to attack, as the Defias Blackguard charged at the Spartan, he quickly evaded their attacks with a few movements and before the first could react, he grabbed her arm and tossed her out the window screaming and as the second tried to cut the Spartan, the Spartan evaded those attacks and quickly turned to smash a kick into the right thigh of the guard, shattering the bone with a sickening sound that reverberated in the cabin. The woman cried out and in pain and tried to stab the Spartan in the stomach, but he reacted by grabbing the front of her clothing and quickly kneed her in the chest, shattering her bones and one pierced her heart easily.

The Spartan grabbed her by the neck and quickly broke her neck with one twist and she was dead. It was then that several arrows were fired at him, no doubt by VanCleef himself. The arrows however did no good to the Spartan's shields as they flickered around him but didn't decrease his shield system to say the least. The Spartan quickly scanned the room and spotted VanCleef and decided to flush him out by unleashing a hail of bullets from his M6C SOCOM. The head of the Defias had no idea what those were but he quickly got out of his hiding place. The Spartan kept it up and as soon as he ran out, he reloaded. That was a ruse as VanCleef charged at the Spartan, hoping to strike him while he was reloading that strange gun of his.

The ruse worked as the Spartan quickly reloaded his weapon and then shot the sword out of Edwin's arm , making him drop the weapon in shock and pain at the sight of his ruined sword arm, the Spartan quickly placed aside his M6C SOCOM and then took out both his MA5C and the M7S and held both gun in hand and aimed them right into Edwin's body and then unleashed a hailstorm of rounds into the Defias Leader's body and his legs. The results were beyond bloody as the bullets easily tore through his armor and turned his body into bloody confetti in mere moments. As soon as he emptied half the clips in both guns, the Master Chief watched as Edwin VanCleef fell back into the ground on a pool of his own blood, his stomach, hips, and things were now nothing more than holed mess of decimated flesh and bone.

Edwin groaned as he fell back, looking at the massive giant in armor who stood over him as he felt his blood flow out of all his wounds as he looked briefly at his utterly ruined armor. He thought that he had the chance with those traps and weapons as well as all of those in the Defias Brotherhood against anyone trying to arrest him for what he was fighting for, but it was all for nothing as he was now dying before this giant of a man who had just torn him to pieces with those weapons of his. But he was not going to give up yet as he spoke in bitterness to the Spartan.

"You….You Alliance lackey…I will see you in hell."

The Spartan however replied without batting an eyelash.

"I've already been to hell more times than you VanCleef."

"Really? You know why we….made the Brotherhood?"

"I do, but the way you acted tells me revenge has driven you to madness, your madness ends here."

With that, the Spartan shot VanCleef in the heart with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, finally putting an end to the leader of the Defias Brotherhood, he then stripped the dead man of anything that could be of value to him and as soon as he was able to get what he could, he personally took Edwin's head with the use of Edwin's own sword, as he did so, he spotted a letter and looked it over, he decided to leave this in the hands of the King as well as Bolvar as they could make much better use of it than him.

With the grisly trophy in hand and a handful of coins already gathered and stored in his rucksack, the Spartan quickly went to work as he placed the C-12 Shaped Charges into place, he moved through the Juggernaut, using his understanding of the ship's super structure to place the explosives in the right areas where maximum damage could be inflicted on the ship. It took a while but he was more than ready to take his time since he preferred to set these explosives in the right position to maximize the damage they would inflict. He also decided to take as many barrels of the explosives and gunpowder that he found in the ammunitions store of the Juggernaut and used that to supplement the C-12 Shaped Charges.

He took out the barrels of high explosive and flammable liquids and powders and placed them in key support areas of the cave system along with the C-12 Shaped Charges while also making sure to aim the cannons of the Juggernaut at key spots in the cave's tunnel system to bring the roof down fast and hard by aiming the cannons at key stress points in the roof that would make the whole roof above fall apart and render the inner complex utterly unstable and no longer worth salvaging. This was to make sure that the Deadmines would never be used by the Defias ever again.

He also ran through the rooms in the docks area as well as in the Juggernaut and found a huge number of maps, documents, ledgers, reports and more…all were valuable intelligence data that the Alliance could put to very good use which was why he packed that all up into his rucksack. He then double checked his explosive setup and once he was assured that everything was ready, he routed the fuses of the gunpowder and explosive liquids that he had found and had them all placed into a central pile that would quickly be ignited by the remote detonation system that he still had on hand that would be of good use in battle and carried it as a spare.

As soon as he was done, he made sure to gather all the other things that he could use to identify the slain Defias leadership members. He placed the head of Edwin VanCleef along with the heads of Sneed, Marisa, Rhahk'Zor, Miner Johnson, Gilnid, Mr. Smite, Captain Greenskin, and Cookie as well in a sack he found.

He also took a large mining cart and placed in all the items that he had been able to gather from the slain Defias forces as well as their leaders since he knew that all of this would be able to find a good price for once he sold them or gave them away to others who could find a much better use for them than him. As soon as he was done, he made his way to the exit while dragging the cart with him, and it was not long before he made it to the exit, he quickly checked out the area and spotted a number of Defias forces that were no doubt trying to get into the mine to find out what was going on since the cart did make a good deal of noise. That was going to be their last mistake as he got himself ready for battle with them even though he had a feeling that he was going to be a bit low on ammunition.

He didn't have to bother as he was suddenly able to hear the arrival of the Albatross and while the Defias Blackguard members were surprised at the sudden arrival of the Albatross that suddenly unleashed it's lights right into their faces to distract them. He moved and quickly killed several of the women and just as they were about to face him, he smashed into them like a bull as he had removed the straps he had for the cart. The Defias females were unable to recover as they were soon caught by the Spartan's brutally efficient result and that of the attacks of his companions.

It took a while but as soon as the dust settled, the Albatross landed and out came his group and as he dragged out the cart with one final pull, he began to take out the various items that he managed to take from the bodies of the slain Defias members and leadership. It was going to be a long process but in his mind, it was going to be worth it all as the items were certainly going to be worth selling though he planned to keep some for study and also to keep away for further use in the future if necessary.

Once everything was done, the Spartan then took what was left of his supply of explosives and placed the charges on the exit and once they were all keyed in. He moved out and then pressed the trigger. Sure enough it didn't take long for the explosions to go off. The first to go were the cannons of Juggernaut, their rounds smashing hard into the roof of the cave. That was soon followed by the detonation of the C-12 Shaped Charges that quickly began ripping apart columns of rock and support struts in the cave like they were nothing but wet tissue paper. Inside the cave, the badly weakened roof began to crack rapidly under the massive shockwave of the explosions as the C-12 Shaped Charges were going off like clockwork alongside all the chemicals and gunpowder that the Spartan had positioned. That was more than enough to send down large chunks of the cave's roof down to the ground. As for the Juggernaut, it was blown to kingdom come as chunks of it were sent flying through the place as it was soon turned into a burning pile of twisted metal, burning rope, oil, metal and more.

The docks were obliterated and laboratories were ruined completely by the blasts as fires soon spread all over the place and massive chunks of cave stone fell on everything, the Foundry was reduced into a burning inferno of a mess, the Mast room was now in full flames and in ruins as well. The tunnels that were leading to those locations couldn't even sustain their integrity and soon they too fell apart further sealing the Deadmines. In less than thirty seconds, the Spartan had reduced the Defias' construction base/headquarters into an inaccessible ruin filled with burning wood and stone and if there were any survivors down there, there was going to be no escape for them at all as it would take months or even years to break free, and if they were going to try and used explosives, they would also kill themselves as well due to the now unstable structure of the Deadmines.

The exit itself was also blown apart and was soon covered by a wall of stone that moved like an avalanche. Once Cortana confirmed that the cave complex was no more, the Spartan sighed and looked at the arriving group with him and said that the mission was over. Now they could get back to Westfall and report the completion of their mission to the authorities there before moving to Stormwind to offer their reports to the King and his advisors, for now, it was time to rest and tomorrow early in the morning, he was going to retrieve the supplies he had stored away in Moonbrooke before anyone found them.

…

(By the way, on a side note, I was listening to Disturbed' song Indestructible when I made this chunk of battle sequences, hope that if you all read this, listen to the song, to me, it's the song of choice if you read the battle sequences.)

…

The next day…

As the Spartan gave his report to King Varian as well as giving the king proof of his accomplishments, he also gave him, Bolvar, Tirion, Jaina, and Aegwynn the documents that he had been able to get his hands on concerning Defias activity in Azeroth's regions, as well as those in Lordaeron. He then gave the letter to King Varian and when the king read the letter, he was surprised and he gave the letter to Bolvar to read. Once the advisor read the letter, he was ill pleased with what was in it as he spoke to the Spartan.

"We thank you for the information that you have given us Spartan, even more so with this letter that you have recovered. We will be able to handle things from here, this letter however is troubling news, nevertheless, we will be cautious in our approach on this matter."

Dana then stepped forward as she spoke.

"My Lord Bolvar, may I take up the task that you need regarding this letter?"

Bolvar was surprised at this and looked at King Varian and Tirion, he then noted that the Paladin had a smile on his face and he got his answer as to why as Tirion spoke.

"Paladin Dana Tyr was among those who helped me in leaving my exile and convincing my son to leave the Scarlet Crusade and her abilities are exceptional, and the same could be said for those in her group, if she wishes to take this mission, then it would be a good thing to let her do so. That is if the Spartan wishes to take this task for himself."

John shook his head and replied.

"I am inclined to say no to that, I have done my part in helping the Alliance with the Defias Brotherhood so there is little reason for me to remain here at all. Besides, I have a feeling that Lady Dana can handle this well on her own as I have already seen her skills in combat and magic."

Dana looked at the Spartan and could tell that he was telling the truth despite the fact that he was wearing his full armor when he said those things, she had no idea why, but hearing him say that about her skills was nice. As a Paladin, she saw it as her duty to do the right thing and she shouldn't be praised for doing that was right, but she was still a woman and after seeing what this man could do in combat, it was a good deal to have him say that he had faith in her abilities and she smiled warmly at that.

The smile was not lost to the three Elves and while they had no idea what was going through the Paladin's mind but they were not happy with the smile even though they kept their peace for the time being as they knew that they were before the King of Stormwind of all people. Talia herself was calm about the whole thing and she spoke out as well.

"I would also like to join my friend in this mission with your leave Lord Bolvar."

Bolvar nodded and with that, he gave the letter to the two and after reading the contents of the letter, both Dana and Talia when to work as they bowed to the group and bid farewell to the Spartan himself. After that was done, the Spartan also presented the heads of the Defias leadership and all three men nodded grimly while Jaina and Aegwynn looked away as they were not keen on seeing this sight before them, to which John apologized as he should have told them of the grisly trophies he had brought along as he had shown these to the head of the People's Militia in Westfall.

The two women nodded and they were excused as Varian nodded to Bolvar and the advisor turned to a nearby chest and opened it to receive several large leather bags filled with a large amount of gold, silver, and copper coins. As these were given to the Spartan, Varian spoke to the man.

"Once again, I thank you for what you have done for my people and for my son and me. You may be neutral in your standing Spartan, but your actions tell me that you are trustworthy for the time being. You will be welcome here in Stormwind if ever you desire to come here once more."

The Spartan saluted King Varian and left the castle, with that done he decided to get down and gather the needed supplies and have them all ready for transport back to the Dawn. All he needed now was a way to transport the supplies that he planned to buy with his new finances, but not before giving away some of the things he had gained the mission and selling what he didn't need at all.

But first he decided to find this Dwarf by the name of Wilder Thistlenettle and give him these Miners' Union Cards and also the medallion that he recovered from that Ghoul he destroyed in the Deadmines as he had been able to learn that he was the representative of the said organization in Stormwind from Ironforge. He made it there to the Dwarven District and after getting some directions from the Dwarves, he made his way there to meet the Dwarf that he was looking for. He could tell that a number of the Dwarves were surprised to see him and his armor as well as his weapons, but he knew that they were also looking at his companions who were following him.

The other looks were naturally directed at his companions, the Dwarves were surprised to see female Night Elves dressed in such clothing while the others were not happy to see a Blood Elf with them. That was not lost to Erin as she came closer to the Spartan himself to show that he was her protector. That stopped the Dwarves from saying much while the actions she took was more than enough to make the two Night Elves look at her with annoyed eyes and Jarrod only looked on in slight amusement at the whole thing.

As they arrived at the pub, the Spartan was able to spot the Dwarf in question due to the gear he was wearing as well as the pick axe that he was carrying. The Spartan moved towards the Dwarf and spoke out.

"Are you Wilder Thistlenettle?"

The Dwarf turned to look at the Spartan II Commando and his eyes widened at the sight of the Spartan which told the Master Chief that he was not expecting company for the day. The Dwarf coughed a bit, remembering that he had a position to uphold and not act like a wide eyed fool before someone asking him something and spoke.

"That I am, who are you?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, to you Mr. Thistlenettle."

"That's quite the name you got there laddie…and for a human, you're a big one. Well then, with that out of the way, what can I do for you?"

"I have these for you from my trip to the Deadmines."

That got the Dwarf's attention as the Spartan presented the Miners' Union cards that he recovered. The Dwarf looked at the cards and seemed to recognize them all and he sighed sadly from the sound of his voice.

"I never thought I'd see these again, you did the families of the slain miners a great service laddie…I guess I can tell you that a few weeks before my friends and I were checking out the mine to see if there was anything worth left in the place. The Deadmines used to be the best gold producing mine in this side of Azeroth until the very first war with the Orcs. But when we came there, those thieves attacked us….an accident happened and that was the reason why we lost a good deal of people…including my brother. I'll make sure to send these to the families of my friends so there is some resolution to this whole tragedy for them all. Here….take yer pick of your reward of choice."

The Spartan watched as the Dwarf revealed a set of mail pants that were of high quality from the looks of it and a pair of well made and highly useful leather gloves with metal guards on them. They both looked useful even though he doubted that he would be able to find much use for them in his own case. However, he could hardly refuse the offer and took the mail, and Wilder nodded.

"Not a bad choice you've made there laddie, though I have a feeling that with the Armor you've already got, you would find another use fer it. Anyway….if you have been in the Deadmines, have you found any trace of my brother?"

John nodded sadly and gave the medallion he found, and told Wilder of what had happened to his brother.

The Dwarf was sad to know that his brother had been turned into a ghoul and there was no chance of him coming back any time soon.. He then spoke sadly to the Spartan.

"I see….my poor brother….I wish I could have been able to save him. But, nevertheless, I am happy that I knew what his fate was, even if the fate was a bitter and painful one. Here, I believe that this is the best way for me to reward you for giving closure on his fate."

The Dwarf then gave the Spartan a strong looking pick axe and spoke to him.

"This is my gift, it's not much to look at, in the beginning, but it is a powerful tool and a weapon if you need it to be such. It's also made from specially crafted iron and will serve you well in peace and in war time."

John took the pick axe and nodded as the Dwarf spoke once more.

"I'll be sure to tell the families of my friends and my brother's own family for what you have done for them, and I will do the same when I tell others of my time here in Stormwind, and once more, I thank you laddie."

With that done, the Spartan decided to get down to buying his supplies.

…

In the Albatross, on the way back to Kalimdor and the Dawn after two days of purchasing…

"That is a lot of supplies…"

Erin spoke as she looked at the massive number of wooden crates, all of which were currently locked down in the bay of the Albatross. The Spartan had been very busy with gathering what he needed to refurbish the Dawn and also ensure that he was more than able in terms of supplies and stocks. There were crates filled with various fruits, meat, fish, bread, cheese, potions, metals, clothing, tools and more besides. In fact, in the mind of the Blood Elf rogue/mage there was enough supplies here to feed and equip a small army for at least three to four months. The fact that the Prince had requested the vendors to sell him these supplies at a lower price was more than enough to really surprise her.

The crates of fruit ranged from simple Red apples to the more expensive ones such as the Tel'Abin Bananas, Snapvine Watermelons, Goldenbark Apples, Heaven Peaches, Moon Harvest Pumpkins, Deep Fried Plantains, Skethyl Berries, Telaari Grapes, Tundra Berries, and Savory Snowplumes. There was a lot of fruit, at least three crates worth of each and all of them were sealed to prevent them from spoiling. The Spartan had really hit pay dirt as the humans would say it in her mind as she looked at the rest of the containers.

The next set of crates housed all the fish that the Spartan had been able to purchase, and it was a lot of fish, from the Slitherskin Mackerel, to the Longjaw Snappers, Bristle Whisker Catfish, Rockscale Cod, Striped Yellow Tail, Spinefin Halibut, Fillet of Ice fin, and the Emperor Salmon. Like the fruit, there were three crates filled with each type of fresh fish as well.

The next set of crates contained all the meat that the Spartan was able to buy. And like his current cache of food, he had the basic Tough Jerky, and onwards from the Haunches of Meat, Mutton Chops, Wild Hog Shanks, Cured Ham Steaks, Roasted Quails, Talbuk Venison, Clefthoof Ribs, Salted Venison, and Mead Basted Caribou meat. There were also three crates for each type though all the meat was wrapped in specially made cloth to contain them and their crates were specially made to prevent leakage.

Another set of crates contained the various cheeses that he had bought, and like the meat, they were stored well to prevent them from rotting at all. The cheeses ranged from the Darnassian Bleu, to the more expensive cheeses such as the Dalaran Sharp, Spiced Onion Cheese, Dwarven Mild, Stormwind Brie, Fine Aged Cheddar, and Alterac Swiss. And like the others that were already there, there were three crates for each type of Cheese that was onboard the Albatross at the moment.

Another set of crates contained the various types of bread that the Spartan was able to purchase from the vendors and shop owners. The bread were also stored well to keep them from being moist and rotting. The breads ranged from the Tough Hunks of Bread to the more tasty and expensive such as the Freshly Baked Bread, Moist Cornbread, Mulgore Spice Bread, Soft Banana Bread, and Homemade Cherry Pies. All of which were fresh and ready for consumption when needed.

There were other crates as well, and these carried a large number of metal bars that the Spartan was able to purchase, these weighed more but they were not enough to weigh down the Spartan as he hauled the crates into the Albatross while she and the others were making sure that they were not suddenly going to be attack from behind by any roving bands of Defias members as well as the other kinds of creatures that roamed the place, the Albatross had flown in as soon as the people who had helped load the crates on their carts and took them to the site. Naturally the Prince had requested Captain James and his unit who were fully rested to help them with security and the Captain did so. Once they were gone and he gave the all clear, the Albatross arrived and soon the crates were being loaded in by the Spartan with clear military efficiency, making the group look on in approval as they watched the back of the Spartan just in case anything happened.

The crates contained many bars of Copper, Tin, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Iron, Steel, Mithril, and even True Silver. All of these bars were expensive to purchase and had taken a good deal of the funds that the Spartan had on hand. But in the mind of the Spartan and his words later on, these would be invaluable to him

Along with these supplies were a large number of materials that formed the basis of explosives as well as large amounts of gunpowder, oil, as well as Phlogiston which Cortana and the Master Chief were keen to take an interest in for study. Once all that was brought into the Albatross, the Spartan secured them with the use of long nylon Kevlar mooring ropes and magnetic clamps to hold everything in place. Once that was out of the way, they were off, and in another smaller metallic crate was a large amount of the left over coins that the Spartan earned selling away the things he didn't need at all. All in all, the Spartan was more than equipped and supplied to handle most if not all foes that were going to fight him.

As she was done, she moved back into the cockpit, the Spartan was there chatting with the glowing woman named Cortana while Kaelyn, Jarrod, Sandra and White claw were currently resting and taking a much needed break from all that had been happening there in Azeroth, she still couldn't figure out a lot of her savior and target of interest, but she knew one thing. He bristled with power and while there was no doubt that her people would look down on him for being human and wielding technology, she had no doubt in her mind that the very second they saw him in action, they were going to have to rethink their stance on the matter.

The Blood Elf then wondered what her people were up to at this time, she had not heard any new news from them and it had been some time since she had gone to the Horde's owned lands to get any new information. She wondered also on what they were up to in trying to get to join their Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider in Outland, the land that she heard would offer salvation to her people, salvation from the pain of magical addiction.

It was then that the Spartan turned to look at her and spoke seriously.

"Are you all right?"

That made the Blood Elf look at her savior and she nodded in answer, though wishing that he was doing so with his face exposed once more for her to see.

"I am fine, just thinking about how my people are doing."

Cortana noted that and replied.

"They should be all right, if you want, you can leave the Dawn and we can take you to the port of Theramore like we offered before?"

Erin turned a bit and could easily see the smiles on the faces of both Kaelyn and Sandra, she knew already what was the meaning behind those smiles of her rivals and she shook her head in a quick answer.

"No thank you, I'll find my own way to getting back to my people, besides, I prefer not to be a burden to you and the Spartan."

Cortana smirked a bit while the Spartan shrugged and replied.

"Fair enough, but if there comes a time that I am going to the lands of the Horde, I'll make sure to bring you with me in order to make contact with any of your people."

The Blood Elf smiled triumphantly at that and looked at the Night Elf females with a smug expression on her face, much to their own disappointment and dislike. Still, she wished that she would be able to see her people once more and get some news on them.

…

She was about to get her wish for in a region in Kalimdor…

"Damn it all….keep moving!"

"I am blast it….but this wound hurts like mad."

The Blood Elf in full armor swore as she and her companion, a Blood Elf Ranger tried his best to move as well. The two were part of the Farstriders, a Blood Elf force that had a rich and unique history, though the woman herself was different, she was a Blood Knight. This was a bit hard to fathom as both Organizations were known to have issues with their differences in actions and traditions. Not to mention that the Farstriders, while being loyal to their Blood Elf kin disapproved of the Blood Knights' actions concerning the source of their powers with the Holy Light. However, these two were old friends when they were young and that bond of friendship was why they worked together.

The female Blood Elf's name was Janna Bloodstar, a Blood Knight who had been assigned to work with the Farstrider unit that was being send to the lands of Kalimdor to get some information concerning new locations to set up bases where the Farstriders could gather information. Her companion and old friend was Tannis Sunstorm, who was currently the leader of the unit that she was assigned to work with. They loved to annoy each other but they knew that they could count on one another when it was needed. The ship they were on unfortunately had been hit hard by a storm and they were now ship wrecked in the lands of the Night Elves.

They had managed to guide the ship to land and take shelter from the massive storm. Once it ended, they salvaged whatever supplies that they could take and make their way back to Horde territory and recover before setting up a base of operations in Kalimdor. However, just as they thought that they were safe in their trip, a large number of Satyrs came at them and forced them to break apart and began to fight, Janna engaged the Satyrs with sword and shield while the Farstriders attacked with their bows to take out the targets before them. They managed to fight effectively but they were suddenly surrounded by several more Satyrs, forcing them to break contact and move out while avoiding the Satyrs as best they could.

She and Tannis had managed to kill their pursuers, but he was injured badly and she had to help him as best she could. Janna stopped and summoned her powers once more, she had learned enough from her trainers on how to heal and even resurrect her comrades and allies, however she knew that her mana reserves were a bit low for now so she would have to be careful with her magic.

As she used her magic to heal the wound on her long time friend, the Farstrider sighed a bit as the pain faded away from his body and he spoke.

"That's much better….now we should find the others, there's no telling what else is out here."

Janna nodded as they moved out, they moved quickly through the lands of the Night Elves and that was something that got on the nerves of the Blood Knight. She had never seen this land before and while it was slightly similar to the lands of Quel'Thalas in some respects, there was something else here as well. She could tell that Tannis was not affected by the place at all, after all he was a Farstrider and they never practiced magic all that much.

It was not long before they managed to clear the thicker heart of the woods that they were in before and soon arrived in something that resembled an open space in the land they were in, though with less trees. But suddenly a powerful series of spells were fired at them, forcing the pair to move away and defend themselves. They were soon beset by another band of Satyrs, and this one was accompanied by a much larger one of their kind and it seemed to be the leader. Tannis readied his arrows to try and kill the apparent leader of the band but he was forced to stop and kill the rushing horde of Satyrs that came right at him as Janna managed to cut down several more. The leader then spoke in a very mocking tone.

"Bring down these interlopers, they are not Night Elves, but they will do as sacrifices to our masters, and if not, then at least we can have some exercises on their corpses."

Both Blood Elves cringed at that as they were not planning on being turned into either of what the Satyrs had in mind. Tannis then had to place his bow aside as the Satyrs were too close for his arrows to be of much use to him and he drew his sword and was now back to back with his long time friend. It was a long time maneuver in battle for two fighters to have their backs to one another, as they would be able to deflect attacks directed at both themselves and be protecting the other at the same time. They were able to do well enough, but it was not long before the Satyrs were able to find a way to break their defense as another larger Satyr suddenly unleashed some sort of powerful spell that struck them in a moment.

That spell somehow prevented them from moving, almost like a slow potion and the felt that their weapons were somehow stuck in the air. It was then that a number of vials were thrown their way, and exploded all around them as some sort of airborne poison was filling their lungs. Janna felt her head suddenly become heavy as well as the rest of her body, she tried to cast a spell to counter the effects of the obvious poisons, but the spell from before seemed to make her though processes slower than before. She managed to see that the same thing was affecting Tannis as well. She looked to see the Satyrs grinning as they came closer to her and his companion. The leader and his apparent second in command then spoke to one another.

"You think these two will be appropriate for the masters?"

"They will do for now, besides that, before we can deal with them for trainin exercise, the female should provide some…amusement, the male should be dealt with as he is of no use to us."

Before she lost her consciousness, the Blood Knight cringed in revulsion at the thought of what those Satyrs had in mind for her and her friend, she wished that she could fight back, but her body was still affected by both the spell and the poison. However, just as she was about to lose her consciousness, she heard something roar in the very sky and then a bright flash of light hit her and the sounds of something filled the air as she fell into the grip of unconsciousness.

…

Janna began to recover, amazed that instead of being dead, she was still alive, she was having some difficulty opening her eyes due to being badly exhausted but she heard voices, some were a bit faint, but when she felt footsteps, she was finally able to hear voices, one of which was female.

"A Blood Knight….and a Farstrider together? Now that is totally…unexpected."

(What the? How did this one know of us?)

This confused Janna as she knew that her Order had barely even gotten out of the world and the same could be said for the Farstriders…yet here was some unknown being able to recognize them right off the bat. Three more voices came in, and one such voice was another female.

"What in the name of Elune is this? More of your kind here in Kalimdor of all places? I cannot believe that this is even happening. Is there something you're not telling us?"

(Her kind…what is going on here?)

The first voice shot back.

"Hey! I don't know anything right now, it's been a month and several weeks since I got back to Silvermoon City! Besides that, the Blood Knights and the Farstriders are two organizations in my people's world that don't exactly get along well with one another despite the fact that they are duty bound to defend Silvermoon and the interests of the Blood Elf race. The Farstrider being here, I can easily understand that since they hunt evil beyond the borders of Quel'Thalas as is their purpose in life and part of their long history…but a Blood Knight as well with one….that's unheard of."

Janna was completely shocked, this meant that the first voice she heard belonged to one of her people. But she knew of no one apart from official envoys and ambassadors who were here in Kalimdor, let alone the lands of the Night Elves, who now doubt was the owner of the other voice as she quickly realized that the second speaker was using Darnassian. Another female voice came in and was also speaking Darnassian, no doubt a Night Elf as well.

"So what exactly are they doing here?"

Her kin replied.

"I don't know…all I know is which organization they respectively belong to, but apart from that, I am in the dark as to how they got here and why they are here to begin with."

Janna opened her eyes and then spotted the group before her, she had some difficulty adjusting her vision due to the pain she was feeling from the powerful spell that had been used on her as well as Tannis, along with the paralyzing agent that was used by the Satyrs that tried to capture her and Tannis. She looked and as her vision finally began to clear, she spotted that the others were indeed Night Elves though the women were dressed in garb that was totally odd to her, as well as wearing some sort of armor that totally surprised her as it never resembled anything worn by the Night Elves and their forces.

She looked to see that the next person was indeed one of her kind yet she too was dressed in the same clothing as armor as the Night Elves. She then summoned of her remaining healing magic and when she felt better, she tried to speak, but her voice was slurred for a moment. It was then that another voice speaking in Darnassian came into play and this was a male voice.

"Looks like they are waking up."

As soon as she could speak and move her head a bit she looked to see that Tannis was also awake as she was and she spoke.

"What the heck is going….on here?"

One of the Night Elves spoke seriously while keeping her hands on her bow.

"We should be asking you two those questions, what are you two doing here in Night Elf lands?"

Janna looked and scowled at the Night Elf.

"I am not telling you anything you Amazon."

The Night Elf woman tensed up a bit and replied.

"I should have expected that from you…I'm still amazed we even rescued you two, rescuing your fellow Blood Elf was hard to deal with at first, but now two of you?"

Tannis then spoke.

"We didn't come here for fully malicious purposes, I am Tannis Sunstorm and this is old friend, Blood Knight Janna Bloodstar."

Janna was shocked and quickly turned to face her friend and sputter in outrage.

"Why are you telling them out names you idiot?"

Tannis replied to that.

"Because right now, we owe them our lives….look over there and see what happened when we fell unconscious."

Sure enough, the second she did so, Janna saw a large number of dead Satyrs in the area where they had been earlier, she was surprised that only three Night Elves were able to do this, though she doubted that they did it alone, she turned to the oddly dressed Blood Elf who she recognized as a Rogue with some hint of arcane magic in her and spoke in a hard tone.

"Who are you and what are you doing here with these tree hugging barbarians?"

Both Night Elf females growled at that and both reached for their bows but their Druid companion spoke to them to calm down. Erin sighed a bit and replied.

"My name is Erin Firestar, and as to why I am here with them….it's a…"

Tannis' eyes widened at that and he spoke out.

"Hold it! You are Erin Firestar?"

Erin nodded and the Farstrider spoke.

"But….that's impossible, our spies reported that you went missing no less than a month and a half or so, we all thought you failed and were killed in battle. How is it that you're still alive?"

Erin sighed and replied.

"Like I said, it's a long story, but the short of it is…as much as I hate to admit it, the ones with me saved my life."

That surprised both the Blood Knight and the Farstrider completely, and for good reason. The idea of Night Elves rescuing a Blood Elf from certain death was totally unheard of anywhere in their society, besides, they were enemies since the Night Elves were the ones who banished them away from the Well of Eternity so many millennia ago, and the Night Elves were part of the Alliance so there was no reason for them save their fellow Night Elf's life. Janna was more than willing to throw the prod out to speak as she was still unwilling to believe that these Night Elves had saved one of their own.

"You expect us to believe that you owe them your life?"

Erin replied to that.

"They actually helped rescue me from death, granted they didn't like it at all that they were trying to save my life as you already found out, but they did it because he rescued my life."

Tannis was confused and then ventured a guess.

"Are you saying that someone else saved your life and these Night Elves with you helped him?"

"Yes…he's human enough, but not exactly what you would consider as a human like the ones in the Alliance either."

Janna was even more confused at all this and decided to calm down and think about what she was going to say next as she was still trying to make sense of all this, one moment before passing she and her long time friend were about to wind up being used as either sacrifices or target practice by those foul Satyrs, and now she wakes up talking to one of her kin who was rescued by a human and said human was aided by Night Elves. Not exactly the most welcome thing to wake up to after finding out you are still breathing.

"All right then, where is this human anyway? And why would he bother saving a member of the Horde if he is part of the Alliance."

That was when a new voice came into play, just as movement appeared behind the three Night Elves.

"That's because I am not part of the Alliance."

Both Janna and Tannis look wide eyed as they spotted a massive figure in green and black armor that covered the entire body from view, and the face was hidden away by a golden plate that revealed nothing. As the figure came closer, the Night Elves parted and nodded at the being who gave them a nod as well. In the giant's hands was some sort of gun, but unlike those carried by the Goblins, Dwarves, or Gnomes, this one was smoother, more…streamlined, but no less deadly looking. The figure stopped and turned to Erin and spoke to her in Common.

"You know who they are?"

Erin shook her head and the Spartan nodded a bit and turned to face them, the giant kneeled down and placed his weapon to the back, the two elves heard a dull clang that sounded like a bell and then found themselves being looked at by the armored being, they had no idea why, but his stare was as if he wasn't at them…but through them somehow. He was studying them intently and while they were still utterly confused as to who or what this being was, they were not going to do something that would get them in trouble. After a minute or more of the scrutiny, the being moved away and spoke to them while staring at them still.

"If you want to know who I am, then you'll get your answers soon enough, but for now, you are coming with me where I can keep an eye on you."

Janna bristled at that and replied.

"Why should we go with you anyway?"

"Either that, or I can just leave you two here and let the land deal with you as well as the native wold life or the Night Elves. Where I am taking you might well be the only place where you two won't get killed just because you happen to be members of the Horde, so that is entirely up to the two of you."

The two were silent and Erin replied with a smile.

"I suggest you take it, the Spartan's base is….interesting to say the least, besides, you two are lucky you didn't go in any further since you both would have been in real trouble with the location you were heading to."

Janna and Tannis were confused but got up and followed the group and as they moved through the trees in the area, they were able to spot a massive ship that was before them. They stopped as the machine looked nothing like the machines made by the Dwarves, Gnomes, and Goblins at all as they looked at it. As Erin finally convinced them to go into the ship, they were surprised by what they were seeing and only one thought came into their minds.

(Who is this guy?)

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delays, I needed to get some sleep due to a lot of thing happening, such as the Town Food Festival. Anyway, on with the story as I worked hard on this for some time now. As you can guess I have fused option A and option B to create more balanced situation to get into the mix.

Imagine the outfit worn by Dr. Catherine Halsey in the anime short story, The Package.

Just so everyone knows, there will be a few more chapters before I halt my work on this story and update the other stories that I can update so to be fair to the stories that I have worked on before and make sure that the ones who enjoy reading those stories get what they want for them. As to which stories will be updated, that will become obvious in the updates themselves. But for World of Warcraft Halo, it will have a few more arcs to highlight the situations that the Chief will take part in.

The next arc will focus on his time in Kalimdor, getting to know the land and it's people and then also helping out in Theramore Isle from time to time. Afterwards, he will finally go and meet the Horde itself thanks to advice given by Jaina Proudmoore herself in this arc on the next chapter. This way he will be able to see the situation on the side of the Horde…Naturally this will result in some very interesting encounters with key players in the Horde itself, and you can bet that the Master Chief will encounter some of the Horde leadership that will really test his patience.

You all can wager a guess on just who these persons are, but if you happen to WOW players, then I don't need to get too far into the details all that much.

Anyhow, we're going to see more interaction between the Master Chief with several other people as well and there is no doubt that he will meet Dana and Talia once more and I will also include some other characters in the long run to further spice up the story as well.

We now meet two more characters who will be adding some extra content into the story while the Spartan is currently back in Kalimdor and he will be rather busy now that he has two new people to deal with. Will he help Tannis and Janna find the rest of their unit and help them get back to the lands of their allies, as well as their people? You will have to wait and see just what I happen to have in mind then won't you?

And soon he will be going to the lands of the Horde and getting into another situation that will get him roped into the Horde, though he won't be going in all guns blazing as of yet since this is more of a diplomatic mission for him. But you can bet that there will be some difficult things that he will be dealing with in the soon to come future.

How will the meeting of the Chief with the leaders of the Horde go when he meets them? That remains to be seen soon enough!


	12. Chapter 12

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: I don't work in either Blizzard or Bungie so don't ask if I do…

Chapter 8

Part 1

Rescue Run…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

The Spartan looked at the incoming information on his new guests and determined that like Erin, they were indeed Blood Elves as their DNA samples had the very same genetic marks that he had recorded when he had taken samples of Erin's DNA to Flash-Clone her a replacement arm. He was still trying to find out anything on who they were and what they were doing this far out from their own lands. So far, the two of them were currently resting in the Dawn's crew's quarters, namely in the same area he had allowed Samson and the other freed slaves of Venture Company to stay in when they were fully rested, fed, and cleaned.

Cortana was right next to him in the holo-tank and she smiled as the Spartan looked at the DNA patterns. The A.I knew that the Spartan was currently trying to figure out the very next course of action in dealing with the new people on his ship and base of operations. Having Dr. Halsey's memories and having read all the files her creator and 'mother' had on the Spartans, she was an expert in reading Spartan behavior and languages and she could tell that her Spartan was annoyed and very much trying to deal with this mess.

Most people outside of the Spartan II Program knew next to nothing about the Spartans since they were very private individuals and usually were only comfortable around fellow Spartans unless with people who they trusted, the only Spartans who were exceptions to that trait was Kurt himself, Samuel, and the members of Gray Team as they were more social and had a different set of personality traits. That was why the Spartans were as alien to the UNSC personnel as the Covenant were to Humanity as a whole, and only she, Dr. Halsey, fellow A.I Deja, and Mendez knew what they were thinking and feeling.

"Easy John, I can tell that this is stressing you a bit."

John turned and gave a slight sight, barely audible but Cortana could 'hear' it by the slight movement of his chest and his head.

"I wish it was that easy, it's still going to be a while before I can give more trust to Jarrod, Sandra, Erin, and Kaelyn, now I have to deal with two new faces, even if they are the same race as Erin, I know next to nothing about them or their mission here in Kalimdor as well and there's not telling who else is with them."

Cortana sighed a bit and nodded.

"I understand your concerns, and quite frankly I can relate easily to it since technically speaking, we're the aliens here on this world. But there is no doubt in my mind that we can deal with this when the time comes, after all, you've dealt with far worse than new faces."

The Spartan nodded at that and smiled a bit under his helmet, and decided to take his time with this new discovery. So far, the two Blood Elves had remained tight lipped about the reasons to why they two of them were here in Kalimdor of all places, all the way to the dawn, they had remained silent even when he was asking questions while looking at them seriously. He had to give them credit for not breaking as of yet to a Spartan, he would have taken more serious methods, or even used some of the truth serum, but he chose not to and for two reasons, first he was not going to do that since they were not hostile and Erin would not have wanted that as well as it being a bad way to start relations, and the second was that he had no idea how the truth serum would react to a Blood Elf's biology as of yet, he had not tested the truth serum on anyone apart from humans so he would have to keep it as his ace in the hole for a later date.

For now, Erin was currently talking with them in the rooms while the Night Elves were resting and recovering in another section of the ship which also had a place for them to sleep in with relative comfort and away from the Blood Elves, while Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod had developed some level of tolerance for Erin, there was no telling what would happen if they were to be dealing with the new Blood Elves on the ship. It was not only the three Night Elves, but Erin as well, she had already began to develop some level of tolerance for the Night Elves here on the Dawn, but there was no telling how she would act with these new members of her race here on the ship.

For now, he placed the data aside and planned to look the data up tomorrow and decided to go and visit the Blood Elves, he reached to the holo-tank and took out Cortana's data chip and slid it into the slot on his helmet. The same ice water feeling hit him again and he heard Cortana speak.

"Ahhh….you have no idea how much I miss being in your head."

John snickered a bit and replied gently.

"Yu make it sound like I'm your personal ride or something."

"Well, you are in many ways, anyway, let's get down to work and see if we can get some more information from those two Blood Elves, but I can say this much about one of them from what I have been able to determine."

"Which one are you talking about?"

"The male Blood Elf, now I'm no expert in reading elven facial expressions just yet, but he seems to be the trust worthy sort to me, and that is saying something already, considering what we have to deal with for today. Besides that, didn't you notice that his DNA seems to show less of the arcane mutation markers than the samples we have from both Erin and that other Blood Elf as well."

"Fair enough, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be wary of him either."

…

In the room…

Janna was still busy trying to wrap her brain around all that Erin had been telling her and Tannis, and she couldn't help but look around in more than one instance on the ship that they were in, trying hard to decide what to think of all this. When she and Tannis had seen the ship, they were completely stunned as it was certainly unlike anything that had ever seen before in their lives and was not something that they knew the Alliance and the Horde would have in their arsenals at all. But when they thought that this was it as well as the armor and weapons this being carried, the sight of the massive ship that had walls around it….which was only at least three or six hours walk from where they were was enough to make her and Tannis stop and stare.

While it was only half a ship, it was huge….and unlike anything they had seen before in their long lives as elves and there was no sign of it being made by any of the other races that they knew of at all in this world. And as they entered it, they were surprised about what it was made of…there was no wood, but pure metal, the entire ship was made of metal which was something that they didn't even think was possible at all. Soon they were taken to some sort of lab and the armored being took some of their blood, they resisted of course, but Erin then assured them that he was not going to kill them or harm them at all.

It took some time but Tannis agreed and submitted himself to the being's actions and to his surprise and hers' they were indeed not harmed and were then being….looked over by several devices that ran lines of light on them. They were not harmed at all and soon they were pretty much guided to this room that they were in now and the Blood Elf Rogue stayed with them and told them what they were dealing with.

Tannis was completely silent but his eyes were telling volumes as well, he looked at each detail of the ship and recounting all the details that Erin had just given them. After a moment or more of silence, he spoke to her.

"You were saved by this man after you actually lost your arm? How did he do that?"

Erin sighed and replied.

"I just don't know, all I recall after I fell unconscious was me in great pain and near death's door when I saw him, and then I woke up with my arm fully restored and I was alive and well, I later learned that he had actually grown me an arm. It was like the racial Regeneration ability of those…Trolls but without any magic of any sort. He used those devices and actually made me a new arm which is indeed mine."

Both Blood Knight and Farstrider were stunned by this, like all of their kind and even their former High Elf kin, they distained technology and rarely use it, however they were not blind to the power that it could offer. But this kind of technology was different, so different and so….unique that they could hardly describe it with anything they knew of. It was then that Janna spoke once again to Erin.

"So this man…if he even is one underneath all that Armor he wears, what do you know of him?"

Erin smiled widely and replied to that question.

"There is no doubt in my mind that he is human underneath all that armor he happens to have on, and he is quite….delicious to say the least in face and body when he does take his armor and helmet. So far however, he's a private person and while he's not easy to understand completely, he's rather tolerant and open minded."

Tannis was intrigued by that and made that sentiment clear in his next question to the Blood Elf Rogue/Mage.

"Really? What makes you say that?"

Erin smirked at that and replied.

"It's kind of obvious actually, the fact that even though he was technically in the lands of the Night Elves and is in their good graces, he still allows me to remain here under his protection. Of course he saved my life and he wanted information about our race, but he also happens to prefer hearing our side of the story of our race and why we became what we are today. He also protected me when he came to Stormwind of business of his own and he is quite willing to face anyone to protect those under his charge. So that's why I say that unlike the humans in the Alliance, he certainly is different. The thing is, he's neutral to the Alliance and the Horde so he is not part of any side except his own from what I can gather."

"Interesting…."

Janna then replied as she was still somewhat unconvinced as to what Erin had described concerning their….current host.

"How can you be so sure that he is indeed human. I've been able to observe humans before and there is NOTHING in the Alliance that matches the kind of things that he carries around with him, those guns he has are unlike any firearm I have seen that is used by the gnomes, dwarves, and the humans, and the armor he has is not Alliance made gear, in fact, it hardly matches anything that is made by the Alliance, so how can we be sure that he is indeed human as you claim him to be?"

Erin was about to answer when the door opened and in walked the Spartan in question, the three Blood Elves looked at his direction, with Erin being the only one who showed no fear or wariness in his appearance, no doubt due to her attraction to him as well as the fact that he was kind to her and also happened to be quite open minded when dealing with things. The Rogue smiled and greeted the Spartan in a tone of familiarity.

"Greetings Chief, is there something important you want to ask them?"

The Spartan nodded and spoke to Erin.

"I do have some important matters to discuss, if you want to stay and listen to them then that is all right, but if you do not want to then you can leave and get some rest."

Erin shook her head at that.

"It's all right, I don't mind hearing what you want to say to my fellow Blood Elves, however, they want to have proof that you are human."

"Do they now?"

The Spartan directed his attention to the two Blood Elves in question and looked at them, Tannis nodded while Janna remained silent though the Spartan doubted that she planned to remain silent for long as he could tell that the new female had plenty of questions for him, that was to be expected after all since he was not exactly a regular being by most standards.

The male Blood Elf then spoke to him in a very curious yet reserved tone.

"Yes we do, you're not like any human we know of, your armor is not made by any Alliance race that we know of, your weapons may be guns, but are of at totally unknown make to us, and let's not even begin with your…ships. Not to mention the that you are huge for a human."

John mentally chuckled at that and knew that they had a right to say that, though if they had ever met his fellow Spartans, they would have been quite surprised to seem. After all, in their MJOLNIR Armors, his fellow Spartans were like giants to most human sized beings. He then decided to remove his helmet and assure the two Blood Elves that he was indeed human though he was not going to like it, he still found the idea of removing his helmet to show his face to be something of an annoyance. But he decided to get it over and done with so he could get down to the more serious matter of finding out just what these two were doing here and also figure out what to do with them once he had learned all that he could from them.

…

Erin smiled warmly as she knew right there and then that the Spartan was going to remove his helmet, even though she had seen his face many times already she never got tired of it at all as she loved seeing his handsome face, as soon as the helmet came off the Spartan's head, she and the other Blood Elves got to see his face and while Erin's reaction was still the same the very first time she had seen his face, the reaction of her fellow Blood Elves was different.

Tannis was surprised to see that the giant before him was indeed human but was so different, for one thing, he gave the aura of a veteran warrior who had seen many years of combat. He himself was no slouch in the arts of war, having served in the Farstriders for nearly three hundred years ever since the Second War and during the invasion of the Scourge in Quel'Thalas, and he had faced the Horde's own races more than once. However….the aura this man seemed radiate was different.

He felt like he was looking at a being of war, the way he moved and the way he acted was that of a warrior a warrior who had fought many battles, and won them all. He also noted the eyes, they were calm, intense, focused and radiated confidence as well as experience and power. The power that he had only seen in two people in his still young life as a Blood Elf, Ranger General of Silvermoon Halduron Brightwing and Lord Lor'themar Theron. Those were the only ones of his race that Tannis saw that had this aura. This human had it and he felt that there was even more somewhere there as well. This man, this human deserved respect and he was willing to give this man that respect.

As for Janna she was surprised indeed and had to admit that the man was attractive. The skin tone was exotic and there seemed to be no features on him that seemed to be wrong in any respect. This human was very handsome indeed as he face was flawless and before she became a member of the Blood Knights, Janna had served as a Priestess in the Alliance before the sundering of her people from their former allies so she had met many human males in her day and had to admit that many of them were certainly good looking in some respects. This human was in a class of his own as she continued to stare at his face, taking in every detail of this remarkably handsome human male before her.

However, like Tannis she sensed an aura about him, there was no magic coming from him at all and also his armor. And considering what he wore and this entire place he called home, as well as his weapons, armor, and mode of transportation, she doubted that he even knew what magic was, let alone used it. She had heard of Techno mages, beings from the Alliance and even some from the Horde that dabbled in the idea of combining both magic and technology into some sort of system of power, however, like all her race, and no doubt even the High Elves and the Night Elves, she shunned the idea and considered those who took the path of Technomages as idiots and fools. This man was different…

The aura was also that of a soldier, she was no longer a stranger in the arts of war after discarding her role as a healer and took up the sword and shield of a Blood Knight. But this human's aura was thick, strong, potent, almost like magic itself, this told her that this being was no stranger to combat and had seen a great deal of battles, and no doubt had killed more than his fair share of beings before. She wondered just what sort of person was he and as she looked on, taking in his handsome features as well as the aura of power and strength he radiated, she could see just why was it her fellow female Blood Elf would show a great deal of interest with this out worldly being.

Erin could see that look in Janna's face and she felt some level of unease as she could tell that her fellow female Blood Elf was attracted by the Spartan. That unease however was soon replaced with a sense of competition as she was not keen on letting anyone take away her chances of seducing the Spartan, gaining his support as well as his affections, even if it was one of her own kindred. She didn't like the idea of having more competition, she already had enough of that with the two female Night Elves, but the Rogue in her replied that at least there was a more entertaining chance of being able to catch the Spartan this time around.

John himself however was getting rather annoyed by all this and despite not scowling, he glared at the two Blood Elves a bit, already used to the way Erin stared at him so that didn't bother him as much as it did in the past though he knew that the stares were more than just to look at him. He then spoke to the two seriously.

"Now are you convinced that I am human?"

When the two finally nodded, the Spartan placed back on his helmet and then spoke seriously to them.

"All right, now listen here because I will not say thins again, you two happen to be in my ship and my own personal base of operations, as such, I am going to ask you why you are here in Kalimdor. Make no mistake of this, I happen to be a neutral party here and I prefer not to be involved in either Alliance or Horde affairs unless there is no other options or it's within my best interest to be involved though I happen to be under the good graces of the leader of the Night Elves as of this moment. The two of you however don't have that luxury, you are recognized as Blood Elves and you happen to be in Night Elf lands, and naturally they might not take too kindly with the fact that you happen to be here of all places."

"So here's the deal, I want to know what is it you happen to be doing here of all places and if there are others in your group that might be here. Make no mistake, the reason I am doing this is to make sure that there is no sudden conflict that might spring up to cause the breaking of this non aggression situation that is between the Alliance and the Horde. The fact that you two are here is not that significant, but the question on why you two happen to be in the lands of the Night Elves remains. So, you two tell me why you are here and I will bring this case towards the attention of the proper authorities and in return, I'll see if I can help you two in some fashion and keep you two from retaliation while here in this base."

Janna was not every happy with those options that the Spartan was giving them and spoke out.

"Why should we tell you the reason we happen to be here? If you happen to be neutral then you shouldn't be concerning yourself with the affairs of the Horde!"

"That's true, but I also happen to be trying to do things to keep the peace in my location, and the fact is that apart from several locations in either Kalimdor and Azeroth, this is a neutral spot, I am doing this only as long as this place does not become a site for the Horde to attack the Night Elves, the same applies as I will not allow the Alliance to use this place to launch raids into the lands of the Horde here in Kalimdor. Consider yourselves lucky that you are even allowed here in the first place, and I happen to be open minded and tolerant, as well as intent on maintaining my neutrality. If I wasn't, I would have just left you to your own devices and who knew who or what you two might have encountered."

Janna blanched as she recalled what had happened before she had fallen into unconsciousness when the Satyrs had surrounded them before. The Spartan noted that and sighed mentally as he had a fairly accurate idea on what the woman was thinking. He and the others had nearly arrived on the Dawn's outer perimeter when the scanners told them activity and they spotted the two Blood Elves in danger and naturally he decided to go in and intervene. He had no idea what the creatures were doing but considering how the female Blood Elf reacted to his statement, he had a fairly accurate idea, but he was certainly not going to entertain it for any time frame.

Tannis ran through their options and decided that it was best that they told the being their mission; he had saved their lives and provided them sanctuary when he shouldn't have. The fact that the unknown human was aware of the risks of allowing them in his base yet doing so anyway told him that he was reasonable just as Erin had said him to be and that was a good thing as well. This place was neutral land and they were safe here for now. He could also hope that maybe this being could help him save his unit,. Or at least have their remains if they were all dead brought back to Silvermoon for proper funeral rites by the rest of the Farstriders.

Tannis then began to speak but not before Janna reacted and told him to stop right there and not tell this human what they were doing here once more. However, the Farstrider replied to that with a serious look.

"We happen to be in enemy territory and he is willing to let us remain under his protection for now, if one of our own is safe here under his watch in the very realm of the Night Elves of all places, then we should at least show our gratitude to him and if possible….ask for help."

Janna was utterly surprised by that and tried to find some way to state that they didn't need help from a human, even if he was not from the Alliance or any of the lands of the humans, but she was not entirely ignorant of the situation and sighed as she kept her peace as Tannis informed the Spartan of the reason his unit was in the lands of the Night Elves. It took a while as the Farstrider provided all the details that he could give. Once that was over, the Spartan then spoke to the two of them.

"All right then, now that I know what exactly is it that brought you and your fellow Blood Elves here, I have to inform High Priestess Tyrande of the situation ad see if any of the Sentinel patrols of her people have found any trace of your companions."

Janna was surprised that this human was actually on speaking terms with the leader of the Night Elves, from what she had heard, the Night Elves were not always welcoming of the younger races, including humans as well. But this was something she didn't expect and she spoke out her curiosity as well as her wariness on the whole matter.

"You have the ear of the Night Elf's High Priestess? How is that even possible?"

"You'd be surprised at how being open minded can open a number of doors if you do things right, at any rate, I'll leave you two alone to get some rest, tomorrow you are going to get some time here while I ask one of my Night Elf companions to go to Darnassus and give the report to High Priestess Tyrande as well as my request to help you locate your companions that were taken by the Satyrs. Keep in mind however that there is the chance she will want your group out of the land of her people regardless of the fact that you're only here to gather information."

With that in mind, the Spartan took his leave and that left the three Blood Elves alone for the time being, and it was not long that Janna spoke to Erin with a rather curious expression as she wanted to know just how far had her fellow Blood Elf had gotten with getting sloe to this human who was now proving to be quite the mystery.

"So…how far have you gotten in getting more details from that man anyway?"

Erin grinned at that and replied.

"I've seen him out of his armor for one thing…and he…let's just say that seeing him makes it all worthwhile being here even with those two female Amazons vying for his attention."

Janna raised an eyebrow at that while Tannis sighed and spoke

"By the leaves of Silvermoon….why do I have to listen to this?"

…

In another section of the Dawn…

Kaelyn was not quite happy with the news that was given to her and her companions hours later by the Spartan as she, Sandra, White Claw and Jarrod listened to what the Spartan had been able to tell them concerning the Blood Elves that they had rescued in the battle earlier. They had quickly arrived and scattered the Satyrs as the Spartan was quickly among the foul beasts and slaughtered them quickly with his weapons. The Satyrs had tried to fight back against the Spartan but didn't stand much of a chance as the Spartan reduced them to dead meat, while they quickly cut down the creatures before they could attack the Spartan from behind. After a few minutes of intense fighting, the Satyrs were all dead and dealt with so now they decided to take a good look at who they had rescued. She was not happy that there were two Blood Elves this time around due to the fact that it was already considered invasion for them to be here.

And now it seemed that they were not alone as well, and this really made the Night Elf Sentinel unhappy with just how the Blood Elves were acting, she could understand if they were trying to defend their territories as any race had the right to do so, but sneaking around in another race's homeland was not a valid excuse in her mind as that was going to be a serious issue to deal with. While six Blood Elves were not an army on their own, there was no telling what sort of mischief and trouble they would cause while they were here.

"I can't believe they would willingly come this far…"

The Spartan replied to that.

"I can understand the concern, but their methods are sound, the best way to gather information on a foe is sometimes to drop behind their lines, and listen in on things. The UNSC has done that before and so have a number of military forces as well. I'm willing to be even the Alliance can do that from time to time though they do know the dangers if they make things more public."

Kaelyn nodded reluctantly at that as she could see the point that the Spartan was trying to put across, but while she understood the reasoning behind their actions, that never meant that she neither approved it nor liked it at all, it was like finding out that a bunch of thieves were prowling around your home and you couldn't touch them at all.

"I know…but that still does not make it easy to know that the Horde are sending spies into my people's home lands."

The Spartan naturally understood the Night Elf's concern and he knew that it was never easy dealing with spies and there was no doubt in his mind that this was not going to be the last time either.

…

The next day…

Janna and Tannis awoke the next day, resting on the beds and they had to admit that these were rather…comfortable and even more so without the armor that they normally wear, the lighting quickly turned on seemingly easing the glare until their eyes adapted well to the surroundings and the temperature in the room began to change until it felt very comfortable. This naturally got the attention of the Blood Elves as it seemed that the ship itself adapted to suit their needs.

Janna was still trying to get used to everything and it seemed that the same could be said for her friend Tannis and as they rose, the decided to look around in the large room that they were in. The walls felt cool and were naturally metallic, it was all grey, with shades of silver and black in some areas. This was something that made the Blood Elves feel a bit queasy for one reason or another, they could see that while this….place of metal lacked anything that they would consider attractive or even beautiful, there was no denying that this was a place geared for conflict, it was as if this entire ship….if it truly is one was geared for warfare.

They toured the room and saw lockers, which they soon realized served to store items and such, they also found a room with some sort of cleaning and bathing facilities, and while the temptation to get clean was there, they had no idea how to operate anything on this vessel. Janna turned to Tannis and spoke to her friend.

"What are we going to do now?"

"I…I don't know Jan….all of this….I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we're in what is supposed to be a ship, but there is no way this was made by the Alliance, and I seriously doubt any member of the Horde made this."

"I know….but that's not just it and you know it….are we really going to stay here?"

The Farstrider slowly nodded at that.

"We have no choice, we happen to be in the lands of the Night Elves and there is no telling what will happen if we leave. But I feel we can trust him and if I am wrong….then I will take full responsibility for it."

Janna managed to smile at that as she saw the same dedication in the eyes of her long time friend and hoped that she was wrong and that they would be all right here. Besides that, Erin seemed to have adjusted well enough and she would have to be the best source of information in figuring out what they could that concerned the Spartan and this place he called home. As they moved out from the bathing and cleaning room and back into the room, the door opened and in walked none other than Erin herself and she spoke to them as she saw that they were now awake.

"Nice to see the two of you awake, it's time for break-fast. Come on, you might be in for a treat."

The two wondered what she meant by that. As they followed the Rogue/Mage, they looked at the ship and wondered what had been placed into it's construction, it was obviously expensive to build as a ship made entirely of metal would have cost a literal fortune to make. Many ships of their own navy were built with a combination of wood and metal, this vessel was a completely different matter entirely and this further reinforced the mystery surrounding this human who was it's apparent owner. The next thing that confused them was the fact that it was not shaped in the fashion of a ship that they knew of.

And the most telling thing was it was cut in half….they had seen the open spaces as they headed through the ship and that made them very curious as well as terrified as the same thought was in their minds.

(What kind of power was able to cut a ship like this in half?)

As they arrived in the galley, they were able to see the three Night Elves and there was the Spartan, once more removing his helmet and eating his food, Janna quickly saw the handsome human's face once more and she quickly saw the attraction and appreciation on the faces of Erin and the two Night Elves and she couldn't help but understand why they were interested in the man. As they arrived, the Spartan looked at them and nodded as he stood up and walked to a large device and tapped something and out came a pair of trays and as they looked as he turned and walked towards them, they saw that the trays actually had food on them.

As he placed the trays to the two of them, he went back to the same device, pressed something from what they were able to see and came back later with another tray of food that he then gave to Erin, the Blood Elf Rogue accepted with a seductive smile which was not lost to her apparent rivals as they glared at her. Erin sat down, smelled the food and began to eat them smiling at the taste that came to her taste buds. The Blood Elves also tried the food and despite some initial wariness, they found the food to nice and tasty.

As soon as the meal was over, the Spartan then told the rules of his ship to both Janna and Tannis, these were the same rules that he had given Erin before, and when they saw that he was dead serious about the implementation of those rules and the sight of their fellow Blood Elf agreeing to those said rules, they did so as well. The Master Chief then directed his attention to Jarrod, asking the Druid to send word to Tyrande about this latest discovery while he kept an eye on the two Blood Elves who had no come into his attention and the Druid nodded as he turned into his crow form and headed off towards Darnassus to inform their race's leader.

John made sure to warn the new residents that he was not going to let them leave under any regular circumstance until he had a an accurate idea on what was his next course of action in dealing with them for ever coming here to the lands of Kalimdor and while Janna was not happy about it, she was surprised that the Spartan was willing to listen to what she had to say about his rules. And when she was done, he pointed that out that he made these rules since he preferred not to allow any of his secrets to be unleashed into a world which was not ready for them, and after looking at the technology this man possessed, she couldn't help but see that he had a good reason to give them such rules.

John knew that it was going to be some time before he got a reply from Darnassus, as well as get some information so for now, he decided to review the information archives that he had already gathered from his trips to the libraries of Darnassus, Theramore Isle, and also from Stormwind, he needed all the information that he was going to get as not only would he learn of the history, culture, customs, but also about the other races that he had yet to encounter, the Orcs, trolls, Tauren, Undead, and Ogres were already mentioned in those books, but he needed more information and he also needed to read from their perspective on their own history, culture, customs, and traditions. The other races and beings were the ones he needed to be ready for their allegiance apart from their own kind was something that was a risk to him and the Dawn and had to be taken into serious account should he ever encounter them in a hostile setting.

John was no fool, while he was gifted with his augmentations, he weapons, his MJOLNIR, the technology of the UNSC, and his experience in battle as well as his inner talents, and of course, his luck, he was still alone in an unknown world and considering all that he has so far seen, the creatures he had fought with, along with some of the other groups were just the tip of the proverbial iceberg and he had to be ready when the time came for him to meet them in either peace or wartime.

…

In Darnassus…

Tyrande was currently dealing with a new set o of reports as well as the daily tasks of running the city of her people when Jarrod arrived and gave her the message. This was something of a concern for the Night Elf High Priestess but after reading the book provided to her by the Spartan, she began to think on how this could actually work as an advantage for her and her people. Spies were dangerous in all senses since they had a lot more freedom to do what they could when in the lands of their enemies, but according to Sun Tzu, enemy spies could also be fed the wrong kind of information, turning what would have been an advantage into a weakness, she had read the book well and knew that this was a viable approach in dealing with spies when they were ever caught.

So far, for the past month or so, she had taken a number of steps to help keep her people safe as well as never losing her compassionate nature, the book had been a good help and so far, the increasing success of the Sentinel patrols in keeping their lands safe was a good thing, combining the already tried and proven methods of her people in the arts of war and melding it with that Sun Tzu spoke of proved to be very useful in dealing the Satyrs and other hostile creatures. The tactics also applied in leading Darnassus, most especially when dealing with Fandral who despite his public arrogance and smugness when being seen by his fellow Night Elves was not getting much leeway in getting more power.

Tyrande had seen to that aspect well by making sure that she had agents of her own to keep track of Fandral without being obvious, and thankfully, a number of Druids who didn't completely trust the Arch Druid were willing to help. She had curtailed the shipments of morrowgrain that Fandral needed for whatever he had use for without making him notice, while also making sure to have his allies watched and every detail of their dealings was reported to her though the agents kept it all coded by using a different language and alphabet, in this case, Orcish, the language of the Orcs themselves, which Tyrande had managed to learn during one of her few visits to Theramore Isle to speak with Jaina as she had decided to read the language in order to be better prepared in dealing with the Orcs, and she was now happy that she did as this proved to be very helpful. The reason was this played on the fact that Fandral wanted nothing to do with the beings he deemed as the lesser races, and naturally included reading their languages. It was not easy to say the least and not very tasteful to her agents as they hated anything to do with the Orcs, but she explained the usefulness of it all and when she read the messages, the reports would then be placed in the fires and burned to reduce the risk of them being found at all, further ensuring that Fandral had no idea what was going on.

All of these action along with the security measures plus more had helped keep the Arch Druid from getting his grip into more power and aspects of Night Elf society and she made it a point to thank the Spartan for the book, and she wondered if he would not mind giving her a new book to read. She however wanted the two Blood Elves to be brought to Darnassus for further talks in order for her to see for herself if they were serious about this situation they happened to be in. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to inform the Spartan that Fandral had been trying his best to get more information about him that he could use as a weapon of sorts against the Spartan.

Apparently the Arch Druid still naturally had an axe to grind with the Spartan, not liking the fact that he was allies with Tyrande and was soon getting a good deal of power in terms of support from the High Priestess, and while she doubted that the Arch Druid was willing to attack the Spartan directly as of yet, she was not in the mood for conflict between them to break out and wanted to find a way to talk to the Spartan while keeping Fandral in the dark. As Jarrod had been turned into a messenger between him and her, the Druid was being watched by Fandral's agents, so having a backup way of communicating with the Spartan without rousing attention was needed if ever he would ask for assistance and vice versa.

She told this much to Jarrod and made sure to ask the Druid to remain in Darnassus for a while as she decided to gather the captains of the Sentinel forces as well as their acting replacements if on another assignment to move away from their usual routes and go get any reports that might help the Spartan locate this missing band of Blood Elves. Once they got the information and it was all determined to be both authentic and accurate, then she would ask Jarrod to go back to the Dawn and ask the Spartan to go to the city and get the information he needed while also allowing her to talk to him about the situation with Fandral.

It took some time but it was not long before Tyrande managed to gather the data as the patrols of her people's army began to send in reports, she pooled them all together and began to look for anything that would be key to the operation that she knew the Spartan would soon be taking part in, this was going to be an interesting week as the she waited for the reports to come in soon.

…

On the way to Darnassus…

The Spartan guided the Pelican Drop-ship towards the Night Elf home city, so far it had been at least a full week before Jarrod came back bearing news form Darnassus. Naturally the Spartan was willing to go to Darnassus and speak to High Priestess Tyrande and get his information while also doing what she asked of him, after all, he had a healthy respect and a level of trust for the High Priestess so who was he to refuse? After all, she willingly helped gather the information he had asked for and at some risk from being criticized by Fandral once more. As he guided the Pelican down, he gave a glance at those on his ship, so far, Erin had sat with her kindred while the Night Elves were on the other side of the Pelican, Kaelyn and Sandra were looking at both Erin and Janna warily while the Blood Elf women did the same thing while both Jarrod and Tannis seemed to be making sure that they didn't try anything on one another.

It made the Spartan sigh a bit more at the situation the he was now in and it made him wonder just how he was going to deal with the situations that seemed to crop up all around him. Not that he was worried or anything, compared to dealing with Covenant assaults, Flood rampages, floating rampant ancient A.I's and escaping a soon to detonate intergalactic super weapon, all of this was a walk in the park for the Spartan II Super Soldier, not that it was going be easy or anything, but very much easier to deal with than those said instances. Besides, he was a Spartan he had a hard time in peace time as he had mentioned before in front of Jaina, Aegwynn, and no doubt Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod, and it was only in battles did he feel some semblance of normalcy though not by much.

At the moment, he was carrying a Br55 HB SR Battle Rifle as well as a M6G Magnum for this trip and carried a Combat Knife as well to even things up a bit more than before just in case he encountered trouble, along with a pair of Grenades; however, both ranged weapons and said grenades were armed with TTRs or Tactical Training Rounds instead of their standard ammunition and explosive payloads.

These things were the militarized version of civilian paint balls and were naturally none lethal, though they were able to sting like hell and were actually made in a very unique fashion. TTRs were used in training exercises and the substance in them was a highly advanced anesthetic that had enough potency to paralyze a being's voluntary muscles and render them helpless until the substance's effects wore off.

If shot in the head, the anesthetic was also able to keep the target asleep for a certain period of time and had been used to capture criminals, rioting civilians, deserters and the like as well as for training purposes. Once fired from the weapon it was stored it, the TTR would fly to the target and as soon as it was in range to said target which was ten centimeters, the proximity fuse in the plastic polymer shell would detonate and release the substance, making a red splotch and then the effects of the anesthetic kicked in immediately

The Grenades loaded with the TTRs had the same purpose, only in this case, these grenades were more useful in splattering an entire group of targets and would be very useful if a riot broke out and forced the law enforcement personnel to stop targeting individuals and go for big groups.

John hoped that he didn't have to resort to using them, but better to be safe that sorry. As he landed the Pelican, he was greeted by a band of Sentinels, and it was not long before one of the Sentinels smiled in the direction of Kaelyn herself, and it was none other than Kaelyn's second in command of her Sentinel Patrol Unit.

"Commander!"

Kaelyn smiled warmly as she moved towards her friend and also the rest of her unit who were all happy to see their commanding officer alive and apparently in good health, this was good news to them as they had been worried about her ever since she had been assigned as a guide for the massive armored human who was there with her.

As soon as the two broke their hug with one another, Kaelyn spoke to her fellow Night Elves.

"It is good to see you doing well Alyssa, but what are you doing here, I might have not seen you and the others for a number of weeks but shouldn't you and the rest be on a patrol?"

"Lady Tyrande had all available patrols and their officers head back to Darnassus, she had use try and locate several missing….well, Blood Elves and when we did we should report our findings to her and afterwards we could return to our designated patrol duties for the day. We also heard that even the Argent Dawn's agents here have gotten involved somehow as well in searching as they believe that the Twilight's Hammer Clan might be involved somehow."

This made Kaelyn curious as she looked at the group and their nods confirmed that Alyssa was indeed telling the truth. This made Kaelyn even more curious as to what was going on here but she decided to reserve her questions for a different time as she and the others were soon going to the Portal while a number of Sentinels, including her own unit were escorting the two new Blood Elves towards the portal of Darnassus. Once they were in through the Portal, the whole group was escorted towards the Temple.

Naturally John was using the translation program that Cortana had been able to develop and after a good deal of exposure, it was at full optimal efficiency as John could now hear the words that were spoken in Darnassian all around him, so far, most of the discussion had to do with the fact that there were two new faces in the city, on these were not the welcome kind as many of the Night Elf residents were unsettled by the arrival of the Night Elves. This was something that John was quick to notice, and while could have chalked it up to simple racial tension, he noted that some of the passing by Night Elves, both male and female who were dressed in the clothes befitting Druids seemed to be interested in keeping a wide berth from the Blood Elves, Erin included, and the same could be said for the Night Elves who were dressed in the same fashion as Talia was.

This was something of a great concern for John, but he pushed that aside for now as they arrived into the temple and there was Tyrande before them as well, she smiled warmly at Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod as well as Sandra pet's White Claw and then gave a neutral look at the Night Elves and nodded to them. As they all were now in the Temple, Tyrande spoke to them about the information that she had gathered with the support of the Sentinel Patrols.

It was after informing them all of the information and allowing them to leave that she had some time to speak to the Spartan and also to Cortana as well since the A.I had been inside her protector's MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor in private, and even more so since she had a number of specially trained and loyal Night Elf male and female rogues as security outside of the Temple to prevent any attempts to sneak in unannounced.

As John listened, he had to give credit to Tyrande for her tactics in keeping her eyes on Fandral, limiting his power base's reach as well as evading detection, using the Orcs' own language by playing on the fact that Fandral was uncaring for the languages and alphabets of other races he deemed as lesser races was a stroke of genius on her part.

"I have to give you credit for that action you took High Priestess Tyrande, using Arch Druid Fandral's own arrogance against him."

The High Priestess smiled at that.

"I have to thank the book you gave me as it gave me the idea, however I do have a concern, since Fandral knows that Jarrod is your way of contacting me, I have a feeling that he will be watching Jarrod from now on, and there is no telling just what is going to be results of that if he decides to make a move against you."

John nodded at that as he was quick to figure out just what Tyrande was saying and it was then that Cortana spoke to him to allow her to speak to Tyrande. John nodded and allowed Cortana to appear and the A.I spoke to Tyrande.

"Is there any way you can somehow use magic to send message across to the Dawn?"

Tyrande thought about that and then recalled something that she had gotten from Jaina before…it was a series of parchment that was enchanted that whatever was written on one sheet could be written in the other sheets. By using one's own magical aura on one or two of the sheets, what one writes on that sheet, the second sheet will reveal it as well, and by pressing in the aura once more the writing would disappear. The case itself was magical and would ensure that any of the other sheets inside would not have the same writing as the previous two unless the owner's magical seal is placed on the case itself.

It was an ingenious magical device which she found somewhat useful but decided to keep it hidden safely so it would not be used for the wrong reasons. Now she had found a way to use it, however she still needed to make sure that it had a way of avoiding being found as Fandral had agents of his own.

"I do have a means to do so, but it has to be written in a language that Fandral does not know of, as despite his distaste and racial arrogance towards the other races, he IS able to read their language and alphabet, and he does have agents of his own as well."

Cortana however had already come up with an idea.

"He might understand the languages and alphabets of this world of yours….but I doubt he would understand the alphabet and language from the UNSC."

John raised an eyebrow at this and so did Tyrande, what was going through the A.I's mind this time around?

…

In the Dawn's Armory after returning from Darnassus…

The Master Chief quickly began to run through his options for the soon to come rescue mission, he knew that the best option he had was to go for close quarts fighting, considering the fact that he was going into another dank and wet cave system filled with who knew what creatures this time around. The information provided by the Argent Dawn as well as the Sentinel patrols that Tyrande had requested from her people, concerned the possible sightings of prisoners being taken by the Twilight's Hammer Clan to some sort of hidden base for transport to another more secure location.

So far, the Argent Dawn stated that the base was a system of caves near what used by a mining complex established by the Alliance in the Third War to gather war material to fund and strengthen the war efforts against the Burning Legion as well as their Scourge servants before the climactic battle at Mount Hyjal. After the battle, the Alliance had no choice but to abandon it due to the fact that the Scourge had caused a lot of damage to the location in a sneak attack before Archimonde was destroyed by the actions of Malfurion.

So far, the location was no longer viable as most of the accessible metals and minerals were stripped and only by going in deeper was there a chance that any metals and minerals worth mining could be found. However, the last reports stated that a large number of creatures had taken the place as a residence so there was no need for forces to go to the place as of yet.

However, recent reports came in that the Twilight's Hammer Clan had used this as a base of operations for their raids and attacks in the area, and have used Fel magic to corrupt and twist the creatures that called the place home into their servants. It was not a very large location, but it was enough to house captives until they were taken to any base that the Clan owned in Kalimdor for now. Destroying that location and driving out the Twilight's Hammer was a good move and would also help give him a lot more trust with the Night Elves.

The reports of the combined forces also mentioned that they had spotted a number of prisoners there, and it was a mixture of beings, there were fellow Night Elves, some humans, even a few Dwarves and Gnomes, and of course, there were also prisoners from the Horde as well, there were some Trolls, a Tauren, and even an Orc family, but the real thing that was important was the number of Blood Elves that were there as well in the group. And when that was mentioned Tannis asked if the prisoners wore the same armor and clothing as he did, as soon as it was confirmed that they did, that was enough to tell the Spartan that the group had been found and now had to be rescued since after reading the information he had found about the Twilight's Hammer from the Alliance, he knew that those prisoners were going to be used as sacrifices and that was something he knew they had to stop.

The sheer size of the prisoners that were there would require a much larger escort force. That was why the Twilight's Hammer Clan were no doubt going to wait for more of their compatriots to make sure that if they moved out, there was less chance of the prisoners trying to make an escape attempt.

He reached and took out a M90A CAWS Shotgun and loaded it with a full combat load of Shotgun shells and also a pair of M7 SMGs, while he would have preferred his trusted MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, the fact that it was going to close quarters meant that he needed to have a barrage of fire that was able to fill the area with lead quickly and effectively and despite his personal preference for the weapon, the lower ammunition capacity would be a problem. He would need to rely on Kaelyn, Sandra, Jarrod, Erin, and of course, Tannis and Janna for support on this one mission and he was going to be in close combat.

And since it was going to be close quarters, he decided to take one of his katanas on this mission as the weapon was going to be effective in this kind of situation that he was going to find himself in. he placed them on his side and soon fully loaded himself with ammunition as well as a pair of Frag Grenades. Once he was done, he placed the katana on his hip while he had the M90A Shotgun on his back for easy access when he needed it, and then moved out of the Armory and was soon greeted by the others as Janna was currently moving her sword around to get some blood flowing into her sword arm while moving her shield arm about to relax herself, Tannis was busy checking his bow for any rotting or cracks as well as any loosening in the bow strings. Erin was currently in her old armor and cleaning her swords and checking for any rust on them and once the swords were clean she dried them with a cloth, afterwards coating them with poison as was her trade, though she carried a small amount of mana potions on the off chance she would have to resort to using magic

The Night Elves were also getting ready for the soon to come battle in their right as well as Kaelyn did the same thing though she still carried her sword and was no longer wearing the clothing armor he had given her, opting for her Sentinel clothing and armor, he didn't mind as this was what she preferred, Sandra was also wearing her trademark armor and was also checking her bow and her swords while White Claw growled a bit and was eating a small amount of meat to build his strength for the soon to come battles with it's mistress, Jarrod was meditating as well, no doubt to clear his mind and focus his energies. He nodded to them and they were soon ready to move out as he got them into the Albatross Drop-ship and then took off as going through the defenses of the dawn's outer walls was naturally a very bad idea as the people there had no idea what might happen if they ever tool a wrong step in any possible direction around his base, he also needed to hide the traps since there was no telling what would happen if the Blood Elves, Erin included had an idea of the defensive nature of the land around the Dawn itself..

They flew a fair distance away from the location that Tyrande had told them and soon they were off with the Spartan armed with the M90 while Kaelyn, Jarrod, White Claw and Sandra had taken the front, due to them being more familiar with the location that they were going through due to this land being their home. It was not long before the Night Elves and the rest arrived and sure enough, there was a large collection of creatures and when scanned by the Spartan's magical aura vision mode in his MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet, the creatures were indeed fused with Fel energy, the magical power of the warlocks.

That was also obvious to the others as they looked at the creatures before them, there were wolves, some feral Night sabers that had been corrupted, a large number of furbolgs that were all corrupted as well as a large number of other beings, namely some humans, trolls, Orcs and, and some high elves. Most would be surprised to see such a collection until they realized that the ones were bearing the mark of the Twilight's Hammer Clan. It still made the Chief shake his head at the way this looked but he focused on the Furbolgs.

He head read about them and knew about the fact that many of their tribes had been consumed by the corruption spread by the Burning Legion during the Third War and only a few tribes remained who were free of the corruption that claimed their kin. They were not to be underestimated despite their lack of any weapons, that much was obvious to the Spartan as he could tell that they were going to be very difficult as some of them had worn armor and there was no telling just how capable they were in combat.

He scanned the forces and quickly located the lead warlock of the bunch and while he had no weapons to speak of, magic was his best defense and offense and as such, he was marking that High Elf warlock as a prime target. He looked at the group and nodded for them to begin the attack, they had to do it quickly before things got too difficult to accomplish in this kind of situation which was naturally something that all of them could ill afford to happen at this time.

Kaelyn and Sandra nodded as they began to aim and fired their arrows while Jarrod would support them, the two were soon joined by Tannis as the Farstrider unleashed his own arrows at the forces before him and bring them all down in the first volley. In a single moment, the arrows were fired and the results were there.

Several of the wolves and the Night Sabers howled in pain as the arrows bit into their flesh, some had been felled by the attacks as the arrows that followed had pierced them deeply. The others however charged fast and hard while being accompanied by the furbolgs. The Spartan quickly came in as he spotted the creatures closing in, they were fast and judging by how some of them sliced apart the creatures before them, they cared little for their lives as well as those of their allies. This told him to move in as he placed aside his M90 and took out his M7s and went into the battle with the creatures. Several wolves tried to lunge attack him but they got their bodies torn apart by his weapons or the arrows of the Night Elves and the Farstrider, he quickly was faced by the first Furbolg and the Spartan admitted that the creature was massive, not as tall as the Brutes, the Flood Tanks, or as massive as either, but still deadly.

The thing roared and slashed intent on tearing the Spartan in half despite his armor and got a stomach full of lead for it's trouble, but the creature roared in pain and fury and managed to force him to back away. It lashed out with it's other limb and hit the shields, flickering out in golden light as the Spartan quickly avoided another slash. The Furbolg roared and attacked even more as the Spartan quickly ducked and lashed out with a powerful kick, the sound of cracking bone was heard as the creature roared in pain once more. It turned and was greeted by the sight of the M7 in the Master Chief's right hand and was shredded as John unleashed another stream into another Furbolg going right at him, he quickly rushed in and smashed hard into the creature like a battering ram, knocking back but not before the Spartan blocked a paw coming down at him with a downward slash of the thing's claws. He quickly fired a blast of slugs into the creature's chest, spilling blood and kicking it hard.

The Spartan had to admit that these creatures were not only tough, but strong, nowhere near as strong as the Mgalekgolo or the Jiralhanae and even the Sangheili, but strong as well as despite the heat of battle and his adrenaline flowing in his body he felt a twinge of pain from his arm that had blocked the attack, the other Furbolgs were wounded badly as the arrows of the three Elves turned them into pin cushions but they kept coming, He quickly moved in and attacked, cutting down more of the creatures while making sure to be careful with their attacks. One Furbolg had it's chest torn to bloody shreds from his M7s until he ran out of ammunition for both weapons and quickly switched to the M90 and blasted apart the creatures with well aimed shots that reduced the Furbolgs into bloody mush in conjunction with close combat attacks.

It was then that the Twilight's Hammer Clan forces joined the fray just as Erin, Janna, and Jarrod came into the fight. Jarrod quickly took his Bear form and began to attack the forces before them as Janna quickly used her shield to block the attacks and slash out with her sword while Erin used her own swords with her agility and speed. The Spartan quickly killed the last of the Furbolgs with his M90, directing his full attention to the rest of the incoming forces before him, but not before Sandra spoke.

"We have to kill the Trolls quickly, even if they suffer horrendous wounds, they can regenerate and keep fighting."

Janna nodded as well.

"I hate to say it, but she is right, if we let them recover, those Trolls will just come back to attack us when we least expect it!"

John quickly nodded and engaged the creatures directly in battle, the Trolls were quick to switch attention to him as he fired the last round of his M90 and blasted a chunk out of the body of the nearest troll, he smashed the butt of the M90 right into the face of the creature as it roared in pain and he quickly took out his katana to cut the head clean off the creature while placing the M90 on his back as he fought with the other Trolls while the rest of his group fought on with the others. Another Troll was about to attack the Spartan from behind but got a large number of shafts in his back and got cut in half as the Spartan's katana cut through him and reduced him into two. He looked to see both Sandra and Kaelyn smiling at him, showing to him just who had shot the creature in the back to help him. He gave both women a nod and went back to the battle itself to end it as he was beset by several human fighters. He could see that they were gripped in their fury and could not be persuaded and he fought them. The three stood no chance as the Spartan cut them down with his sword and as soon as he killed the last one, he threw his weapon into the back of an Orc about to attack Erin from behind, just as the rogue turned to face the threat.

The Blood Elf smiled warmly at this action to her savior and the Spartan quickly reloaded his M7 SMGs and quickly killed another pair of Orcs charging at him with a withering barrage of bullets as he ran to avoid a powerful fireball aimed right at him, no doubt by the Warlock he was targeting as he turned to see the crackling energy coming from the being. He had no idea just what was the Warlock planning but he doubted that he wanted to find out.

He quickly went into a run right into the Warlock and he was quickly surrounded in a field of shadow, no doubt the Warlock wanted to distract the Spartan long enough to kill him with a spell. However, the vision mode used by John to scan individuals for magic also served to locate those as well as the Warlock's sneer was replaced with terror as the Spartan suddenly lashed out with a fist that shattered his jaw with barely any effort. The Spartan appeared as the spell faded as he quickly broke the neck of the Warlock with a single twist of the hands.

It was not long before the battle in the outside ended and the Spartan knew that he had time to reload his weapons. As he did so, he looked to see the group dealing with the creatures, Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves were giving honor to the fallen wolves and Night Sabers as well as the Furbolgs, with sadness in their eyes, no doubt saddened by the fact that such creatures were twisted into the service of evil. John noted that and looked at the slaughtered forces of the humans and elves as well as the Orcs who were part of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, it was a sad thing to have to see this, but it was better this way.

Erin walked over to him carrying his katana, retrieving it from the corpse of her would be attack, smiling all the while for his actions in saving her life.

"Thank you."

John nodded and as soon as his weapons were fully reloaded, he and the others moved towards the cave network to find the prisoners and free them while killing the possible remaining forces in the area.

…

As they move into the cave network the Spartan switched to using his flashlight to into the caves while the Night Elves were quick to adapt and use their Infra-vision while the Blood Elves thankfully had something similar as well. There were torches in the caves, but the Spartan was not going to take any risks as he moved about with his M90 in the ready, They entered a large cavern with water and they were moving through, but suddenly he stopped as his Motion Tracker detected incoming movement. And soon enough, out from the water came several large serpentine beings that were massive, and armed with spear like weapons that looked like coral but no doubt were deadly looking as well. The creatures roared and the largest one of them, no doubt the leader of the bunch spoke in Common.

"You wretched surface dwellers have come far enough, now you die here!"

Kaelyn swore and so did Sandra and Jarrod as the Druid spoke out and John could hear the hatred and disgust in the Druid's voce.

"Naga!"

He quickly recognized the name; he had read about these creatures in the library of Darnassus and then got ready to fight them as the five creatures were soon joined by a host of Murlocs. The Spartan was able to blast away with his M& SMGs in both hands, shredding the Murlocs coming towards him. One of the massive Naga creatures reached the Spartan, hissing at him like a snake and lashed out with the massive weapon in hand, hitting the shields as the Spartan moved aside and quickly unleashed a barrage of slugs into the creature, some bounced off, much to the surprise of the Spartan, this told him that the scales were a lot tougher than he thought. The creature roared out however as it's blood was spilled.

It lashed out with a powerful thrust at the Spartan and the Spartan blocks it with a swing of his weapon and the creature gets hit with a large amount of arrows from the others and as it turns Erin closes in and slashes the throat, killing the creature quickly and effectively as it gurgled out a cry drowning in it's own blood.

The group faced off with the remaining four Naga as well as the Murlocs that were still alive as the fighting started in earnest, two of the Naga engaged the Blood and Night Elves in combat alongside their Murloc kin while the other two directed their attention on the Spartan. John realized that he was going to have to get creative in defeating these creatures as they seemed to be gifted with stronger natural defenses than the other races he's already fought before. He still managed to wound the first attacker and evade the attacks of the next creature through a leap into the air, the Spartan landed and quickly evaded a powerful strike from the wounded Naga he had shot with his M7 SMGs before, the creature was wounded and he would have used the rounds, but with both weapons in need of reloading, he placed them aside and quickly took out his M90 just as he ducked another mighty swing from the creature. He quickly aimed the weapon right at the creature at point blank range, the optimal range for the M90 and fired.

BOOM!

The roar of the M90A Shotgun reverberated all over the cave as the Naga warrior now had it's right arm and shoulder missing and it roared in pain but that ended as the Master Chief strikes the creature's head with a powerful strike to the skull and the sound of shattering bones was heard easily as the creature dropped dead, another tried to attack with is' massive coral trident to carve the Spartan into two, but the Master Chief ducks and in that moment, pumps the Shotgun and introduced the weapon right under the snout of the creature and fired the weapon.

The resulting explosion of scales, bones, brain matter, and flesh was not the most welcomed sight for any regular foe and even the Chief's allies were surprised and a bit disturbed, but that faded away as the Spartan quickly blasted a Murloc into nothing a bloody mess when it tried to blind side him with it's blade. The Spartan carried on and quickly killed another Naga that tried to ambush him by kicking the creature hard in the chest, breaking bones and the Spartan blasted the creature in the face, resulting in quite the mess.

As for the Elven forces, they were able to dispatch their own foes, but not without injuries, though the injuries in question were only to the female Night Elves, Kaelyn managed to kill most of her attackers, but gained a gash on her right arm and also on her left thigh, Sandra also had a wound on her left side as well as blood on her right shoulder. Both seemed all right but the Spartan walked over to them and spoke.

"Are you all right?"

Kaelyn replied despite the pain.

"We'll be fine, we can still fight."

Sandra nodded as well.

"My armor took most of the heavy damage, I should be all right to fight."

The Spartan turned to face Jarrod but saw that the Druid was also exhausted and had a few bleeding scars, nothing too serious but he could see that the Druid had been using a lot of his magic and when he scanned Janna, he could see that the Blood Knight had also run low of magic. He was confused by this until Cortana spoke.

"Chief' I've scanned the area and it seems that there's some sort of energy filed that has an adverse effect on magic, namely those that oppose the magic used by the Warlocks we killed. There must be some sort of spell that is inhibiting the magic used by Jarrod and Janna, like some sort of magical lock down field."

The Spartan looked at the scans and true to what Cortana told him, there was indeed a large amount of magic in the rocks, the same kind that was used by the Warlocks and it seemed to somehow damped the magic used by both Jarrod and Janna. This meant that they were magically out of action at this point.

"All right, let's rest for now."

Agreeing to the suggestion of the Spartan, the groups rested and to the Spartan's surprise, the three Night Elves directed their attention to skinning the slain Naga. The Naga were the newest race that he encountered, though he had read the reports from the libraries in Theramore Isle, Stormwind, and Darnassus itself. Still these Naga were rather new and undeniably dangerous so he would have to learn more as soon as he can. The fact that they lived near the sea and were able to move on land made him concerned about the possibility that they might mount an attack on the Dawn if they were going to attack him as well.

For now however he was curious as to what Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod were doing as he approached them with his newly reloaded M90 and spoke to the Sentinel.

"What are you three doing?"

The Sentinel looked at the Spartan and replied.

"We're going to use the scales to make armor components."

That caught the Spartan off guard

"What?"

"The Naga are deadly enemies, that are true, but their scaled skin is remarkably strong and could be fashioned into armor if needed due to the strength and resilience of their scales, which is why we are gathering their skins."

That was enough to actually shock the Spartan, scavenging from the dead whether enemy or ally he could understand, after all, he did that before in the wars. He had no problem taking fallen weapons from slain Covenant soldiers and from the UNSC soldiers who died or were too wounded to be of much help, and even did the same with the Flood. It was a very much recognized practice in war time, and collecting trophies was not unheard of.

But for the first time ever since coming here, the Spartan felt disgusted and sickened by what his allies had told him. The idea of actually using the body parts of your enemies as weapons or armor was not new to him as there had been things like that in Earth's past, but it was still disgusting and highly frowned upon by Humanity and the rest of the UNSC and considered as inhumane and barbaric. And despite his practical side reminding him that this was not his world and as such things were different around here, his words reflected these same sentiments.

"That's disgusting…"

That was not lost to Kaelyn, Sandra and Jarrod and it surprised them as they had not expected the Spartan to react like that. The Night Elf Sentinel herself also sensed the disgust in the man's voice and realized that this was the first time he had ever shown disgust towards one of her people's usual actions against the Naga.

She stood up and gently spoke.

"I…am sorry if this offends you, but this is the truth, besides, the Naga hate us and all other land dwelling races as well, with the exception of those races they do respect. Here, test this if you wish."

Kaelyn then handed the Spartan one of the scales and the Spartan looked at the thing and decided to press his finger down on it, finding that despite the thinness of the scales it does resist his actions for a while until he exerted more pressure until it finally broke, to some it would have seemed that the scale stood no chance to the strength of the Spartan, but in reality, it had managed to resist a while, showing to the Spartan that the Night Elves actions did have merit. He decided to take the broken scale for analysis back at the Dawn and looked at Kaelyn and spoke back.

"Fine…but I am not in the mood to see that again, I'll move ahead and keep an eye on things until you are done with what you three need to do."

With that, the Spartan moved out while making sure to check the water this time around as there was no telling if other Naga were in the waters to attack them. The confrontation was brief by most standards, but it was enough to tell the Night Elves as well as the Blood Elves that there was actually a limit to the Spartan's tolerance and open mindedness as well. Kaelyn herself was not quite happy with it, no doubt since she knew that they did something that had offended the sensibilities of the Spartan, and while it seemed that it was no longer bothering the Spartan completely, she was not so sure just yet on what the effects would be.

For the Blood Elves, this was yet another clue on what they were able to make of the Spartan and they naturally decided to keep that as a future bit of information that might prove useful in the long run. As soon as they were all rested, the Spartan moved them out from their current location after the Night Elves were done with their work on the slain Naga. The Spartan managed to remind himself that he was in a different world and as such, even if he did show disgust, he had to let it happen as he was not born of this world at all so he kept silent as they moved out. However while he was in the lead, the Elves behind him recalled that they had seen before when he was in combat.

For the Night Elves, their reactions to seeing the Spartan in combat were very different…

Kaelyn shivered a bit at the horrific damage that the Spartan inflicted on his foes, but also was thankful that the Spartan was their ally as he continued to unleash his weapons on the creatures that were there in the cave system. She recalled her previous memories of how she feared what would happen if he ever used his weapons on her people and this came back, only this time she was able to relax as she now trusted the Spartan to some degree and her attraction to him was there as well, along with the knowledge that despite being neutral in all respects, he had a good nature.

Sandra had to admit that seeing the Spartan in action like this was a bit awe inspiring and somewhat frightening at the same time. She was no stranger to butchery in battle, having seen much of it in her time as a Sentinel and as Hunter. And she had heard more than her fair share of bloody stories of battles. But the way the Spartan fought was very impressive and quite deadly despite his very much alien weapons. She also had to admit that her attraction to the handsome human was still there, and knowing that he was more than able to fight was a plus.

Jarrod himself was a bit disturbed by the Spartan's weaponry and fighting skills, but he was also impressed as despite the inability of him seeing the Spartan's face due to his helmet and faceplate, he could tell from the way the Spartan fought, he was truly skilled and had plenty of experience in battle. In a way, he wished that despite wielding such technology the Spartan had come during the time of the Third War in order to help them in some fashion against the might of the Burning Legion.

As for the Blood Elves, their reactions to the way the Spartan fought were also very shocking but also different.

Erin smiled at the way the Spartan was mowing down the opposition before him, it was beautiful how the Spartan fought as he was like a god of war. He radiated power in every attack and while the power was hardly related to magic she relished it as well as magic as the Spartan continued to move, ready to face their foes once more . There was no denying his power and it would be something worthwhile for her to get her hands on that power along with the rest of the Spartan, though she had every intention to do it in a way that was not going to attract the wrong kind of attention towards her at the wrong time and in the wrong situation. She wanted to make sure that if and when she finally got the chance to be alone with the Spartan, it would give her the advantage and not have to deal with too many problems, chief of said problems being a pair of female Night Elves.

Janna had to admit that the technology of the Spartan was deadly and very destructive, yet she had to also admit that it was good to know that he was directing those said attacks on their enemies and not in their direction. This was enough to show to the Blood Knight that he was not someone to be taken lightly, human or not. Still she was intrigued with this man, he was handsome, no doubts there, and there was indeed an aura about him that demanded respect, but the rest of him was a mystery. Where was he really born? Where did the technology come from? Were there others like him? All of these questions were in the mind of the Blood Knight as the Spartan continued to move through the location with his Shotgun loaded and firing away, blasting apart any of the Twilight's Hammer Clan's allies. This was a mystery that despite her confusion over the whole affair she began to want to try and solve if at all possible. She ignored the voice in her mind that told her that it was a bonus that the mystery in question happened to be quite handsome as well.

Tannis was still trying to wrap his mind around how easily the Spartan seemed to kill and fight through whatever opposition before him. The Spartan was able to fight with such skill and ability that it was more than enough to convince Tannis that a direct battle with the Spartan was a very risky if not tantamount to suicide decision. The Spartan was a very strange being in the eyes of the Farstrider, though he had to admit that he was happy that despite the fact that he had no reason to help him locate the rest of his unit, this being was willing to help him out. Granted there might be an ulterior motive there somewhere in his decision to help him, but at this moment, the leader of the Farstrider unit didn't care much for that.

…

As the moved deeper through the cave network, the Spartan was busy focusing all of his MJOLNIR Mark VI's sensors as well as his own senses to see if anything else was going to suddenly come up and attack them. He knew that this was a dangerous situation and even though he had been doing well so far, he never was going to let his successes get to his head. There was no telling what sort of creatures they would encounter that was under the employ or control of the Twilight's Hammer Clan.

They encountered more of the cultists who charged at them and this was the best way for him to see their attack style, he determined that this clan cared little for the rank and file forces and sent them to not only overwhelm their opposition but to weaken them to be finished off by their spell casters, a sound strategy in hind sight as well but also could be a weakness if the targets prevailed and the Warlock had no allies with them, though the Spartan had no doubt that the Warlocks were aware of this and had proper counter measures in mind. The fact that the warlocks were not having them showed that these were either newly trained or were too arrogant for their own good. As they wiped them out, they moved on to see if there were others left in the cave system.

As they moved on through the cave system, they were suddenly greeted by a number of arrows as they entered a cave chamber, there in the middle before them was a large number of Twilight's hammer cultists, a mixture of Humans, High elves, Orcs, and Trolls. They were attacking with arrows and then a large number of them charged while a Warlock was attacking them.

The Spartan quickly sprinted towards the large force without any hesitation. The Twilight's Hammer forces thought that the man was coming to die and charged unmindful of the fact that they were gravely mistaken in what the Spartan was going to do. The Spartan fired several blasts of his M90A Shotgun, ruining several of the forces that came towards him and turning them into dead bodies, Once he ran out of shells, he placed the gun aside and charged into them with his M7 SMGS in hand, unleashing hails of bullets that tore into them like they were nothing more than targets. His target however was not other than the Warlock recognizing him as a key threat to the group as Cortana quickly pointed out that she was picking up some powerful spikes of energy from the Warlock that they were focusing their attacks on. Once he was low on ammunition for them, he placed the weapons aside and drew his katana and began to cut through the opposition. The results were bloody as he slashed and thrust his sword in rapid succession and was cutting through their numbers while his shields flared every now and then as the hordes of foes tried their best to surround him and kill him.

Unfortunately despite the zeal they displayed as well as their numerical advantage, the Twilight's Hammer forces were finding their armored quarry to be more than able to hold his own even though they attacked with all of their power. Their bodies fell quickly while the Spartan was quick to target key attackers such as the Trolls as he decapitated them, knowing that after reading about the troll trait of regeneration, decided that they had to be dealt with quickly before they became too strong to deal with.

As soon as the numbers thinned somewhat, the Spartan ran towards the Warlock who unleashed more fireballs at the Spartan as well as several bolts of pure eldritch energy, those magical attacks impacted the MJONLIR Shield and slowed the Spartan down as he quickly changed tactics and sought cover, but not before taking a quick look at the room and spotted a stalagmite nearby and quickly moved towards that as the warlock unleashed more attacks, intent on keeping the Spartan from getting closer to him.

The Spartan reached the rock formation just as another fireball hit his shields. The explosion that happened next made the Warlock think that the armored giant was dead and with a maniacal grin, the magic user turned to face the others who were currently fighting the surviving forces that had directed their attentions on them.

(Easy prey now that….)

The warlock's thought died quickly as he barely avoided being speared by the stalagmite that came right at him, he barely dodged it, but his speed was not enough to avoid his shoulder being torn up as blood spilled out. The Warlock swore out in pain as he looked and saw the armored giant coming towards him at high speed, and before he knew it, the Spartan smashed into him and then before he could react, he was cut in half by the Spartan.

As soon as the battle was over, the Spartan directed his attention to the other surviving forces and began to aid his allies in mopping up the rest and when they were done, they directed their attention to the rest of the cave system and moved out.

Thankfully it seemed that the force they had killed were the last forces that the Twilight's Hammer Clan had in the location as they found that the over caves were truly uninhabited, they moved in and found the prisoners and freed them. They all naturally got surprised looks from the prisoners and the Spartan knew that this was going to be another one of those days as he gathered the weapons of the slain Twilight's Hammer cultists to arm the prisoners as they made their way out of the cave system while he made sure to check on both Kaelyn and Sandra and see the extent of their injuries. They were not too bad but without any healing magic and the need to secure the freed prisoners.

It was going to be one of those days as they moved out of the cave system…

…

In the Dawn…

John sighed a bit as he looked over at the outside of his base of operations. So far the situation with the rescued prisoners of the Twilight's Hammer Clan were now feasting on the food that was presented to them and were all resting in front of the bonfire that had been made for them. He had been worried that the groups were going to start fighting each other. Thankfully for him, he had no reason to worry too much as Tannis and his group agreed to help keep the peace between the prisoners. The Blood Elf Farstriders were not too badly injured and after recovering their weapons had agreed with their leader to help with the security between the camps.

John was lucky that there were a number of cubicles that were easy to assemble and disassemble and had the two groups resting there. He would have given them rooms in the Dawn but he was not sure how large a group like this would react with one another in close proximity to one another, not to mention the fact that there was a good chance that they would not feel comfortable in the Dawn's walls, most of all the Tauren as he doubted he had a room meant for such a creature in the Frigate, and considering how the Tauren and the Orcs reacted to the ship, they were not very happy, though the Dwarves and the Gnomes were awed by the sight before them. Knowing that he was dealing with a large collection of Alliance and Horde affiliated races in the Dawn's location, he knew that peace was an issue and these cubicles plus the secure watching by Cortana would ensure that he was alert for anything that might happen alongside the Farstriders and their leader.

This situation also happened to work well for Cortana as she was now given the chance to gather all the needed data on the races there and in this way she was not going to have to worry about having to go far to get data, it was not a large enough sample size, but it would help a great deal as she was already working on developing language translation programs for the languages of the races that were now residing in the Dawn's protective walls.

He placed those thoughts aside for the time being as he headed off to the Medical Bay, he needed to tend to the wounded Night Elves to see how they were doing at the moment. He decided that he should remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI he wore to make the two more comfortable since it would be better for all involved if he was in a more relaxed manner, not only that, it was high time he calmed the atmosphere after that outburst he made in the cave system it was far better to show them that he was all right that have them worry that he was still furious towards them and their race that concerned the event with the skinning of the Naga creatures from before.

…

In the Dawn's Medical Bay…

Kaelyn hissed a bit as the Spartan began to patch the large gash on her right arm, the Spartan decided to remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI and was dressed in regular military fatigues as he was currently tending to the wounded Sentinel, Kaelyn was lucky that her wounds was not too serious and with enough medical treatment she would be all right. Kaelyn would have preferred to have been healed by Jarrod, but he had exhausted his powers and needed to rest after healing many of the wounded. That was why the Spartan decided to heal her himself, this made the Night Elf blush deeply as she had not expected the Spartan to take an interest in healing her wounds and she agreed even though she was not sure about being treated by technology.

The Spartan turned to her with a look of concern in his eyes and spoke.

"Does the antiseptic hurt?"

The Night Elf looked at him and saw the concern and gulped a bit and nodded.

"Yes…but not that much, it just surprised me."

John nodded and began to be gentler in his application of the medicine and as he did so, this allowed the Night Elf Sentinel to look at him, marveling at how gentle he was in tending to the wounds she had on her body, she was still dressed in her Sentinel uniform and she felt each touch of the Spartan on her skin and this time she felt his own skin. Even though she would never want to show it, she was trying her best to calm herself as she felt her skin shiver a bit with each touch of her caretaker on her body. Once he was done with placing the antiseptic, the Spartan then used Polypsuedomorphine to dull the pain and sealed up the wound with the bandages, with that wound treated and sealed he moved his hands to her left thigh and that was more than enough to make Kaelyn blush as she looked over the Spartan and saw the looks being given to her by Sandra, as well as Erin and Janna.

Her fellow Night Elf was smirking at her situation while Erin looked at her with a level of fury and Janna was not happy but had not gotten that angry as she was not entirely jealous of the closeness of the Night Elf females and Erin to John. Both Night Elves had been injured in the battle while the two female Blood Elves were not injured too much and didn't need medical attention which was why the Spartan focused on treating them. Kaelyn knew that it was petty of her as well as childish, but she gave her Blood Elf rival a smug smile as she knew that this was by far the only time she was happy that she got battle wounds.

She looked down and she felt like blushing once more as the Spartan was gently examining her wound on her left thigh as the wound was on the outside. The Spartan gently checked for broken bones on her leg gently moving his fingers on her thigh slowly. The Spartan was meticulous in doing this and focused on healing things properly; he could have used the equipment in the Medical Bay but did everything by touch in respect to the fact that Night Elves disliked technology due to their beliefs. He didn't notice that while he was doing this, that Kaelyn was looking at him intensely nor did he notice the way that the others were looking at his patient.

Once he was assured that her bones were not broken, he began to place the antiseptic gently as well as the Polypsuedomorphine and the tissue regenerators on the wound. Once he was done, and Kaelyn was looking a lot better and spoke that she was feeling fine, he began to place the bandages on her wounds. He gently spoke to the Night Elf as he did so.

"Are the bandages too tight?"

"No…"

"Good, once this is done, I'll tend to Sandra so rest for now all right?"

Kaelyn nodded without any argument and as soon as the wound was fully patched up, he gave Kaelyn a nod, cleaned up the table that had the supplies he used to patch up her injuries and allowed her to rest as he turned his attention to healing Sandra with the medical supplies on the next table. The Night Elf missed the feeling of his hands on her skin but the memories of what he had done before were not going to be easily forgotten and she was going to make sure to remember exactly where his fingers were on her skin.

He then ordered Sandra to remove her armor so he could see the wounds she had…the wounds included a sword wound on the left side of her lower torso and another series of cuts on the back of her right shoulder. Most of the more serious damage was averted by the Hunter's armor but the wounds had been seriously bleeding which was why the Spartan was serious tending to their wounds.

Sandra smiled gently and nodded as she followed his orders as she began to remove the outer layer of leather armor and the light chainmail inside. The metal armor had been torn up by the attacks and would have to be replaced soon but now was not the time for thinking of getting new armor as the Spartan looked at her sword wound. As far as he could see, she didn't suffer damage to her vital organs….this is if her organs were in the same placement as that of a human, he asked Sandra to tell him if there was any pain there when he was checking her sword wound gently.

As the Hunter stated no, he decided to run a brief scan of her wound there and saw that she didn't suffer too bad an injury and her organs were not harmed, with that in mind, he began to clean the wound carefully, asking the Huntress if she was all right. Sandra nodded as she also found the gentle ministrations of the Spartan to be rather eye opening and also interesting at the very same time. She had to admit that after seeing him fight a number of times and seeing the results, it was kind of surprising that a person like him could be so…gentle when not in combat. The Night Elf smiled at that and looked to see that she too was getting a look of fury from Erin and she smiled as well. She had been treated for wounds before, but this was the first time she actually liked being tended to by another person. She also blushed at the contact as the Spartan was very meticulous in doing his best to heal her wounds.

Once he was done with applying the medicine and then the Polypsuedomorphine to dull the pain of the wound, he began to wrap the bandages slowly and carefully on Sandra's torso, making the Night Elf Hunter blush a bit more at the feeling of his hands there, and considering the contact, she was amazed that she was as relaxed as she was at this moment. She however stared intently at the Spartan as he was still wrapping the bandages around her wound.

Once he was done, he moved to check her wounds on her right shoulder, so far those wounds were not too serious and would only need minimal patching up, he checked them for any infection and began to clear the wounds gently, hearing Sandra hiss made him move a bit more carefully with his actions and also he spoke to the Night Elf.

"Sorry about that, I'll be more careful."

"Thanks…"

Sandra noted that true to his word, the Spartan was a lot more careful in his actions in treating her wounds and that made her smile even more at his actions as he made sure to do it carefully and with less discomfort for her. As soon as he was done with his medical treatment on her, he took the bandages and began to wrap them on her body, gently doing so and despite the fact that his hands had come near and even touched her breasts, the Spartan seemed not to notice and was very calm about it, Sandra blushed at the contact even though she did wear a soft leather top to cover her bust. The leather was comfortable to her but it was hardly armor and she could feel the touch of the Spartan's fingers on her body, more than enough to make her blush even more.

…

Erin fumed at this and vowed that this was not going to happen again, though it was crazy to even think, she was going to make sure that if she was ever injured, she wanted the Spartan to be the one to tend to her. She realized the train of thought there and chided herself for thinking such a scheme that was nonsense as well….still she was not going to let those two have their fun at the way this turned out in their favor in getting close to the Spartan. She will find her own turn, that much she planned to do when she finally had the chance present itself

The Blood Elf Rogue/Mage decided to stop thinking about that for now and just focus on glaring at her rivals while they were being tended to by the Spartan.

Once he was done tending to their wounds, he decided to that in order to ensure that the medical treatment would be better, they would have to undergo MRI scanning as well as some X-Rays so on the off chance that they were injured he would be far more capable in treating their wounds. He naturally explained to the two Night Elves some of the basics of the machines and assured them that these would be helpful soon enough.

He also asked them to allow him to take a sample of blood so he would be able to analyze them and be able to come up with better treatment methods and explained that doing the same procedure had allowed him to give Erin her new arm. The two Night Elves were a bit hesitant but after a minute or so, agreed to it. The Spartan then took out a syringe and gently took small amounts of their blood and then placed the samples into medical storage. Once that was out of the way, he requested them to switch clothing since wearing metal would interfere with the scanning process.

That got the Night Elves in a bit of a bind as that meant that they would have to strip and the fact that the Spartan was there made it all the more interesting. John however was focused on the task at hand and took out a set of clothes, the very same ones that Erin had worn when she had been treated by the Spartan before and replied that they could go into the changing rooms if they wanted for their modesty.

It was at this point that Erin recalled something, she had been wearing the same clothes they about to when she first woke up and found herself in the ship and had been in the Medical Bay, but she doubted that she had been able to wear the clothing herself at all. She then decided to speak.

"Chief, may I ask a question?"

John turned as he gave the clothes to Kaelyn and Sandra, and nodded.

"Of course, what is it you want to know?"

"When I…was brought here, I had no doubt that I was unconscious and unable to dress myself….so how did I wind up wearing those clothes in the first place?"

The Spartan shrugged and replied in a matter of fact tone.

"I put them on you, of course that meant that I had to remove your clothing and armor at the time considering the full extent of your injuries."

THAT confession from the Spartan got a reaction as all four women looked at the Spartan, Kaelyn and Sandra were stunned while Janna was trying not to think about the implications, Erin on the other hand was quickly blushing as she was quick to get an idea on the implications of the Spartan's statement, it took a moment for her to recover and speak.

"You removed my clothing?"

"Yes."

"ALL of it?"

John nodded and the results were obvious as Erin realized that the Spartan II, who had treated her before and she had developed an attraction to had actually saw her naked! That discovery was more than enough to turn the face of the Blood Elf Rogue/Mage completely bright red as she blushed at the idea that the Spartan had actually seen her in all her naked glory, granted it was due to an emergency and she needed medical treatment but still, that was unexpected, and that meant that he had seen and…examined her already and no doubt had placed his hands on her as well.

Erin then smiled mentally as she began to think it over, and then looked at her Night Elf rivals who's smug smiles were now replaced with furious glares, just as hers had been before when she looked at them, the only sad thing about this delicious discovery was that she had been unconscious at the time and had been unable to see if the Spartan had reacted to seeing her naked form. She then looked at them and gave her own smug smile as she planned to find a way to do that again, only this time, she planned to be conscious and do it in a more….intimate and private setting..

That fact was not lost to both Kaelyn and Sandra and the smug smile of the female Blood Elf infuriated the two Night Elf females a great deal and the rivalry now got really intense…

Cortana observed the whole thing and she couldn't help but notice the changes of emotion all over the place in the Medical Bay. And she was utterly amused by all of it and shook her head at how calmly the Spartan was taking things, of course that was for those who looked at the Spartan and didn't know how to read the Master Chief. She could read him easily and she can tell that he was not very comfortable with the sudden atmosphere but had no idea what was causing it…at least not yet and that made her smile widely.

(John…you have NO idea that you are already up to your chin in trouble with these ladies…this is going to be good.)

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Yet another chapter finished and it seems that the Master Chief has just been dragged into another rescue mission, though thankfully this was brief

Okay, the Medical Bay scene might be a bit much but I figured having this would make the situation concerning the women who are attracted to the Spartan have some extra fuel added to the fire between them, and you can bet your savings right now that this is not going to be forgotten easily. Kaelyn and Sandra are going to make sure that they never forget what just happened and you can bet that Erin and Janna would not forget it either. But now that Erin learned about the fact that John had seen her naked and had touched her before in treating her injuries, you can bet that she is NOT going to forget it either.

Will this really heat up the situation concerning the rivalry between the three women over the Spartan? You bet it will, and Janna herself will soon develop an interest in the Spartan so you can bet it's going to get hairy soon enough.

The next few parts will be less action focused and more on social focus as the Chief adapts in Kalimdor and will surprise the group he's with when he shows them Earth culture and even food and drink as well. The rescued prisoners will be dealt with soon enough so expect another trip to Theramore Isle soon, but in the next chapter, the Orc family, the surviving Trolls and the Tauren will help open the doors for the Master Chief when it concerns the Horde so this will also begin the section where John will be socializing with the Horde.

On chapter 9, John will make a trip back to Azeroth in an arc, but he will not only hang out in Stormwind but pay Ironforge a visit due to his actions in helping locate the Miners' Union Cards and also Foreman Thistlenettle's medallion as Wilder will allow him entrance to Ironforge…

How will that turn out for the people in said location? Find it soon okay?


	13. Chapter 13

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own WOW or Halo so let's drop this okay?

Chapter 8

Part 2

Occupation…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

The Master Chief was currently working on the new samples of metals that he and Cortana were currently working on for study, so far the metals he had on hand were fairly basic as he already had a very good idea on how Tin, Copper, Gold, Silver, Iron, Bronze, and Steel can be used for so he didn't have much reason to undergo an in-depth study of the said materials that he was already familiar with. The two metals that got his attention right now were the ones he was currently studying, the first was Truesilver. The material seemed to radiate some sort of powerful magical field that got the interest of the two of them.

He poured over all the data he gathered on Truesilver, the information mentioned that True Silver's magical properties made it an ideal aid for mages and other spell casters in order to increase the potency of their spells if done right, it was also used in armor to confer some level of magical resistance to the wearer though such effects apply only to heavy armor itself, and weapons made from Truesilver had the ability to cut through most if not all magical defenses.

That fact was very interesting to the Spartan as the implications were very high in the use of weapons and the use of it to actually give his armor some level of magical resistance. He also determined that if he and Cortana were able to mold the material properly for what they had in mind and have someone cast some spell as stated in the information before him on Truesilver, they could have some very useful weapons and more in the long run. However the two of them were going to have to do all this right for that was that there naturally were some difficulties with the metal, first the items had to work out first time, once they cool, they would not be changed into any other or new form, simply reheating it would only result into it no longer being able to remain solid, the next was that in order to keep the metal stable, it would need magical enchantments to do so.

However, despite the difficulties, the Spartan had a very good idea that what he needed could be easily accomplished with a good deal of help. The next metal he and Cortana were soon going to turn their full attention on was Mithril itself, the metal was a very interesting item to speak of as he had run some previous tests, it had remarkable tensile strength and actually had half the weight of solid steel itself. This was supported by the information that he had been able to uncover about the metal. It was as hard as Iron or steel but had half the weight of the said metals, it was usually made to make remarkable suits of armor that were much lighter than they would be if made using normal metals and could also be used to make weapons that were lighter as well, and while they were not made easier to wield, they were a lot easier to swing and strike with as well.

The possibilities of the metal were very high in Cortana's estimation and they would have a chance to create from very useful tools and weapons from it as well. John looked at the images on the screen that was showing the exact makeup of the two metals as well as reviewing all the gathered information that they have on hand as Cortana appeared next to him with a smile on her face.

"All of the data is in, these metals are certainly going to be of great use in the long run eh John?"

The Spartan nodded as he looked at the information he had before him as he also was running through all of the potential uses of the metals that they had with them right now, namely these two.

"Right, the first could be used to fight against magic users who might have some defensive spells at the ready though I might find a way around the need for us to use enchantments once I have done a bit more research on the stuff . We can even use this to give the MJOLNIR Mark VI the ability to counter certain spells. The next metal can certainly be made into lighter weapons, both for close combat and long range, and armor components as well."

John nodded at that as he had no trouble seeing the overall usefulness of the two metals though he was still going to have to do more research into the materials themselves to make sure that he had all the bases covered. It was then that he looked at the nearby security monitor and spotted two people who were trying to access the door into this room that was now serving as his archive center and research room. He sighed as he was quick to recognize the pair that were trying to get access into the room itself.

"Not those two again…"

Cortana looked and she also sighed though she had a smirk on her face as well and she was more than willing to speak her mind on the matter.

"You have to admit one thing, those two are rather persistent in trying to learn more about us."

"They should know that there is such a thing as secrecy Cortana, this is starting to get rather annoying to say the very least."

"Right…well, you know that to do with those two John, I suggest you get to it before they decide to fiddle with something that they are not supposed to. Though I think it would be best that we find some way to convince them to stop trying to get into places they are not supposed to."

John already had idea and he was about to do just that as he walked over to the door.

…

"WHOA!"

The Dwarf and the Gnome looked as the door opened and before them was the Spartan, who despite wearing his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor along with the helmet which hid him easily, they could tell was not in the best of moods, as was evident when he spoke to them.

"You two again? Didn't I already tell you that this section of the ship is one of the places that is off limits?"

The Dwarf sighed as he and his companion got up once more and the female Gnome spoke.

"We know….but we really want to see the rest of your ship….it's so interesting!"

"Aye, I agree with the lass, we know that this here's yer ship and all laddie, but at least let us see the rest of it."

The Spartan felt like shaking his head at the persistence of these two, the Dwarf, one Derek Ironhand, and the Gnome female, one Mishalle Steamwheel had been trying their best to learn more of the ship and the technology that was stored in it. This was not the first time he had caught them trying to get some idea of what sort of technology he used in his base of operations. He had caught them in the vehicle are and trying to figure out how to start one of the Warthogs, though they never got far as the vehicle had been on lockdown and the weapon system on it, namely the M68 Gauss Cannon had been on lockdown as well to keep them or anyone and anything from tampering with it. They also tried to use one of the Pelicans but that didn't work as the drop ship was on lock down as well. Apparently they had managed to get through the door by fiddling with the wires from one apparently loose plate. However, as they opened the door, Cortana was quick to warn him and he gave the two a very serious warning and send them off their way.

Of course, he knew that they were not the kind to give up that easily and he was right as they came back to try again today, they had requested to tour the ship and while he had his idea on what they would do, he allowed it out of a show of good will. Now it seemed that he was going to have take some more stern measures with the two.

"Look, you will have your answers in time and I will allow you to see the rest of the ship in time, but your curiosity will be the death of you, be patient and the answers will come to you soon enough. For now however, I want you two to leave the area and head back to your location."

The Gnome female was about to argue some more but the Dwarf decided that it would be best to stop for now, but not before replying.

"All right lad, we'll do things yer way, besides, you saved our hides from them Twilight crazies so I guess we should respect yer privacy, but keep in mind, you did say you'll give answers okay?"

With that, the two left and John sighed, he had nothing personal between the Dwarf and the Gnome actually, after all, he had read as much as he could about them from the libraries he had been in before and knew that these two with the exception of the Goblins and some other rare members of the Horde were the most technologically sound race in this world he was in, however, despite their advances, compared to the UNSC, they were still in the early stages of a fully industrialized world, not to mention that they were still far behind either the Covenant and the Forerunners in terms of technology.

However, there was no denying that they had a very strong technological base in this world as their inventions had contributed heavily to the Alliance winning many key battles. There was no denying that they were races that deserved to be respected due to their accomplishments and struggles, but John had his own priorities. He couldn't allow technology of the UNSC to be used by those who have not reached the sufficient level of technological prowess to understand the new concepts that created many of the devices and weapons he had here.

Humanity in his world took nearly hundreds of years to reach the level they had in their time and just giving the technology to people who didn't have the slightest idea of the foundations of it all was like giving the commands to a NOVA Bomb to a complete idiot with a death wish. He shuddered mentally at the thought of any such weapons being in the hands of beings in this world who had no idea what they were going to get themselves into with the use of such devices.

As soon as he was sure that they were gone from the area, he moved back in and spoke to Cortana who was smiling at him.

"I feel like I am watching over children and scolding them for getting caught trying to get into the proverbial cookie jar, which is weird since technically those two are old enough to be great grandparents already."

The A.I laughed at that and John snorted at her laughter.

"Sure…laugh it up Cortana."

"Sorry John, but at least they got the hint for now, still, you have to give those two credit for what their races have accomplished here. If Humanity back on Earth had even a fraction of the knowledge their races had in the early days of technological advancement, who knew what the results would have been."

"Maybe…but still, I don't like the idea of having them running about, who knows what they might fiddle with, it was only due to the fact that you locked down the outer defensive weapons that they didn't decide to try and use them for the sake of experimentation, and who knew how much of a mess that would lead to."

The A.I nodded and she spoke.

"Still, we might as well satiate their curiosity, better to have it over and done with so they won't have to resort to poking around in places they are not supposed to. Anyway, I think we can call this a day for the research work, time to grab some good food and a drink."

John nodded and walked over to the holo-tank and allowed Cortana to download herself into the MJOLNIR Mark VI and he moved out to the galley to grab a bite to eat. After locking down the make shift lab with a new access code, he moved out and made sure to check on Kaelyn and Sandra before eating for himself as he made his way to the galley to pick up some food for the two while they stayed in the Medical Bay, it would be some time before they could remove those bandages so they were confined there for now and he had to watch out for them.

…

As he got into the galley, he typed in the type of food meals that he wanted and took the trays back to the Medical Bay, on one tray, there was smoked beef with mashed potatoes with gravy as well as carrots, peas, and celery. The other tray had several smoked salmon slices covered in sauce as well as some hot bread slices and a special mix of vegetables on the side as well. He entered the Medical Bay and saw that the two were still sleeping somewhat and he sighed a bit as he moved over to their beds and activated the controls nearby to bring the folded table out as he placed the food there while taking off his helmet for a bit so the two would recognize him easily. It was at that moment that the two Night Elves decided to wake up as he looked at both of them, they were currently dressed in their new clothes as well and when they looked to see the Spartan without his helmet on, they smiled.

John decided to show some level of good manners for their current condition and spoke.

"How are you two doing?"

Kaelyn smiled at that and replied.

"I am feeling fine, the pain's mostly gone but it kind of is a bit stiff where the wounds are."

John turned to Sandra and she also nodded as well.

"I have the same problem as well, but not too bad at the moment."

John nodded as he presented the food and spoke to them.

"I'll come by later and check the wounds to see how they are doing and if needed, change the bandages, the two of you should be fine in a few more days so take your time to rest, but if you need to move about to prevent your muscles from suffering from atrophy, call me and I'll help you get some exercise in to keep your muscles in good health."

Both Night Elves nodded and were more than willing to let the Spartan take personal care of them and after thanking him for taking care of them like this, they ate their food. As he left them while carrying his helmet, he spotted Erin who was currently cleaning her sword with a clean cloth as well as an oil bottle. He decided to check on her and see how she was doing, due to the many things that he had to deal with, he didn't have the time needed to know what he needed to know about the Blood Elves even though it had been in his plans to get as much information as he could about them from the Blood Elf.

…

As he came closer, he spoke to her.

"You all right Erin?"

The Blood Elf turned in surprise but she smiled happily and nodded as she finished her work.

"I am already finished, is there anything you need from me Chief?"

"Yes, I need to talk to you about your people, and I think it would be best we do it today, care to join me in the galley?"

The Blood Elf nodded as she finally saw the chance to tell her people's story. As they arrived there to the galley, they got their food from the dispenser and sat down to eat. The Spartan had sliced mutton chops on his plate that were well cooked, along with mashed potatoes and vegetable salad while she had roasted beef with gravy, vegetable salad and hot rice. As they ate their food, the Blood Elf also asked if she could ask him questions of her own, the Spartan nodded in agreement to her request. And when they were done eating, they sat down and the Spartan listened to what Erin had to say concerning her people the Blood Elves.

It was a rather long story to say the least and there was the fact that she had been born prior to the events that led to her ancestors breaking away from the Night Elves so she had no idea on all the details. However she did start with the founding of her people's new home of Quel'Thalas.

"Our ancestors arrived in the lands of Lordaeron and embraced new ways after leaving behind the Night Elves, I don't really know why we left them since I was not yet born at the time, but ever since then we went by the name of High Elves and used Arcane magic constantly. When we came there, we tried settling in the area known today as the Trisfal Glades but left it since something evil was supposed to be residing there. While we were moving about, we began to feel vulnerable to the elements and were not immortal, along with that, all my ancestors lost portions of our height and also the color of our skin changed as well. We first encountered primitive humans in Lordaeron but we didn't associate with them all that much. Our real enemies were the Forest Trolls and we've fought with them more times that I care to remember in the history books."

"We then came to the land that became our people's home of Quel'Thalas, but the Trolls were far from pleased as we build our home on the ruins of their own ancient city. They attacked us in full retaliation but our mastery of arcane magic at the time more than made up for our lack of numbers. Our ancestors never forgot the warning of the Night Elves though so we erected Rune-stones to shield our lands so we could practice magic more freely."

"After the first war with the Trolls, Quel'Thalas was the shining jewel of our people, we interwove our designs with nature since we respected nature at the time though we never worshipped it like the Night Elves did. That was why our lands were truly beautiful and also were similar to the old cities we lived in before in Kalimdor. Afterwards we created the Sunwell, it served as the source of our power like the Well Of Eternity of old and through magic from the Sunwell, we enchanted the forests so we could use it's powers anywhere. The power of the Sunwell was our soul…so to speak."

John listened patiently and then asked a question.

"How exactly did your people get involved with the Alliance?"

Erin thought about it carefully, remembering all that she could at that time since she was already born in that era. As soon as she recalled the key events, she spoke to the Spartan.

"That bond was ancient, since the Trolls were hardly silent, after two millennia, they came back and while we were more powerful then, they knew just how to fight us more effectively and it was only through the aid of the humans of the Empire of Arathor under their king Thoradin that we survived, we formed a military alliance with them in exchange for teaching them arcane magic. We won and we decided to keep that debt to the humans in mind, as well as making an alliance with the Wildhammer Dwarves in the process."

"We were involved with the Alliance in the Second War after the nation of Azeroth fell and Anduin Lothar, the last pure blood descendant of the Arathor line of their king asked for our aid in fighting the Horde….originally we were reluctant and fielded only a small army as we had thought that the Orcs were not too serious a threat…we were proven wrong when they allied with the Trolls and attacked us in full force, killing many of our kin…I, I lost my brothers and my father in the war when the Horde attacked the settlement of Caer Darrow and took the Rune Stone there, and my mother died of grief afterwards when the news came of the fall. That was enough to make us throw our full support into fighting the Orcs and their allies. When their forces splintered, we fell upon them and avenged our slain kin and our despoiled lands as well."

Erin became sad by the memory of it and the Spartan could see that she was not lying to him and he spoke gently as he could.

"If this is causing you discomfort we can stop right here."

The Blood Elf turned and smiled at the concern being given to her by the Spartan and she could see that the concern was very real. That made her happy that he was being this considerate of her thoughts on the matter and that was a good thing in her mind as she began to respect the Spartan even more.

"No…I should finish this."

"Some of our people remained in the Alliance though small numbers of our people had accused the humans for not doing enough and being poor leaders due to the destruction done to our homes. King Terenas of Lordaeron reminded us that not much would have been left of our lands had not hundreds of humans died defending them. Our leader Anasterian Sunstrider, father of Prince Kael'thas was unmoved and that is why we left the Alliance with the exception of those who remained in Dalaran or were part of the Windrunner family as well as the rangers who fought in the wars with the humans."

"This however was the beginning of the end for us as the plague that hit the lands of Lordaeron began to spread, killing many who were infected by it and turning them into the Undead and then into the Scourge. When we found out about the rise of the Scourge we were worried but thought that they would avoid us. But we were wrong, the Scourge attacked us and despite our tactics and magic, they overwhelmed us, killing many and turning them into Undead. They were led by Arthas Menethil, once Prince of Lordaeron and a Paladin who was corrupted by the sword he carried known as Frostmourne. The Scourge were moving at terrifying speed under his leadership…many died, including Sylvanas Windrunner, the Ranger General of our people and our King, among many others. The former Paladin then used the Sunwell to resurrect a human necromancer named Kel'Thuzad and with the aid of a Dreadlord, the man was reborn into a Lich…fouling the waters of the Sunwell forever."

"When it was over, Prince Kael'thas knew that if we used the power of the corrupted Sunwell we would die as it's corruption would poison the land and rive us all to madness and death, even more so than the Scourge forces that still hounded our kind. So he had no choice but to destroy it with the aid of those great magi that remained along with the forces of Lor'themar. But when the Sunwell was destroyed, we suffered from magical addiction, having lived with the magic of the Sunwell for generations, when we were separated from it, only then did the pain truly begin."

Erin herself thought of what she had seen and gritted her teeth at the memories of it and spoke.

"The pain is horrible at first, a knowing hunger that has nothing to do with food or drink flows into your body and mind, and no amount of rest could cure it, only the touch of magic could sate that hunger and relieve the pain. But only briefly, and then it comes back again, but you can't keep on drinking in magic either, for it drives you into madness and you try to take magic from any source, either living ort dead. It was hard on all of us, the very young would die, the old would perish, and the ill would not last long, I was old enough and healthy enough to recover and resist, and that was the only time I was happy that neither my parents nor my siblings were alive to feel the pain of magical addiction."

"We renamed ourselves the Blood Elves in honor and memory of our slain people and have dedicated ourselves to reclaiming and rebuilding our homeland. Many of the Alliance consider us mad and insane for using Fel Magic, and even the Horde were wary of us as well along with our former kin the High Elves who survived and remained in the Alliance. But we don't care about that since we have made the choice to fight fire with fire, we're not insane by most standards since we knew the risks and took it for the salvation of our people from extinction. They can call us what they like, but we are who we are and that will never change."

John listened patiently and as soon as he could tell that Erin had told him everything she could, he replied.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't approve of some of your people's methods but I cannot entirely fault them either, your people did what they felt could save them, even of the risks were high. It was a time of desperation and I cannot judge your people as wrong in that regard."

Erin nodded and replied.

"Thank you for that…by the way, I know this might not be enough to thank you, but for listening to me and not considering my people and I as monsters, this should do for now."

And without any warning, the Blood Elf leaned in and kissed John right on the cheek startling the Spartan a bit, but he hardly resisted as he let her kiss him. When she was done, the Blood Elf smiled once more and left the galley to relax and speak to her fellow Blood Elves for the day.

After taking the time to chat with the rest of the Blood Elves to fill in the gaps that might be there in Erin's telling of her people's history, he decided that he had learned enough for now, though he knew that were could come more times for him to understand more about the history of the Blood Elves, but at least he was able to understand the motivations of the Blood Elves to be what they are now.

He then decided that now was a good time to learn more of the other races of the Horde and the first race that he would have to talk to were the race of the Orcs as their actions had shaped many key events. He moved out of the Dawn and headed to the area where the Orc family was staying for the time being.

…

The Orcs looked at John in a very suspicious fashion as the Spartan walked over to them with his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back and a pair of M7S SMGs on his thighs, the younger Orcs, both brother and sister no doubt were not liking the approach of the green armored giant of a man while their parents glared at the human coming towards them as the older male Orc gripped the axe while the female Orc had her grip on the short spear tight. The Spartan then spoke to them in Common to assure them that he was not going to harm them.

"Peace, I did not come here to fight you, I came here to ask something."

The older male Orc and head of the family spoke.

"Really? Do not mistake our actions for hostility human, you saved my mate and my children, and for that I owe you a debt of honor. But I do know that you are not like any human I have seen before in my years, and those things that you carry as weapons or that armor you wear is unlike anything I have seen, how can I be sure that you are even human to begin with?"

The Spartan sighed and decided to sit down before the family on the log that was there and then removed his helmet. He heard the Orcs take a slight breath as he revealed himself to them. He looked at the Orcs who had relaxed their grip on their weapons somewhat as they looked at him. To his surprise, the female Orc spoke to her parents and sibling.

"He's the palest human I have ever seen! He's almost as pale as a Forsaken…"

John gave the little female Orc child a shake of his head and replied.

"I am no Forsaken young one, I am very much human, though as your father has stated, I am not the same as the humans your people know of, please, I have no hostile intentions to you and you are under my protection while you are here so there is no need for hostility."

The male Orc looked at John carefully, no doubt trying to make some level of sense of the human before him and his family. As some time passed he decided to take the human's word for it and lowered his weapon and seeing that, his mate does the very same thing. He then sits down and spoke to the Master Chief.

"Very well, but I believe that I should introduce myself. I am Nashkar Redfang of the New Horde, with me is my mate Dragna Moonscar, and my children Gor'thel and Rishka. And you are?"

John replied.

"I mostly have a military rank and only my first name, but I am usually known as Chief."

The male Orc raised an eyebrow at that as he replied.

"That is the name that you go by?"

"You could say that, it's not much I know, but I prefer it."

Nashkar nodded and replied.

"Very well Chief, now than what do you want from me and my family?"

"Information for one thing, namely information that is about your people the Orcs in general, what can you be willing to tell me about your race?"

Nashkar was confused by that, didn't all humans know about his people? Of course the only things most people knew about the Orcs were the things they did when they were under the grip of the Burning Legion and had burned much of the land. Nashkar hated to remember that as he had been a young teen back in the internment camps so long ago. Like all the other Orcs who rallied to the call of their new Warchief , he had been more than willing to fight, and this time not as one of the Orcs that had been corrupted by the Blood Curse. Their lives in Kalimdor had been hard but ever since they were finally freed by the sacrifice of Grom Hellscream in the battle with Mannaroth, it was a freedom he welcomed, this father Tarkell, a veteran of the First and Second Wars as well as the Third War had lived his entire life afterwards in a spiritual journey to try and make due for his past sins, discarding the ways of the Warrior and took up to being a Shaman to find some peace in his mind. He never saw his father's decision as a weakness and respected that as he knew that his father needed to make peace with what he had done.

As for him…he had his fair share of memories though they were not as serious as his father's, but he knew the weight of them as well. He placed those thoughts aside for now and decided to find out more as top why this human seemed to be interested in chatting with him. The only times humans were ever talking to Orcs was when they were either on tense trading runs, interrogating Orcs, or plain taunting them. This human in green and black armor didn't seem the least bit hostile to the Orc and he decided to speak about it.

"Very well, this will be a long one but suffice to say, we are not native to Azeroth itself according to my father, we came from the world of Draenor long ago, it was our home and we were a culture of warriors who had shamanistic roots. We were a noble society and lived in contentment in our world."

"But all that changed I suppose?"

Nashkar nodded as he spoke.

"The Burning Legion came, I do not know the whole story for I was not born in those days, but I know that one of our kindred…the traitorous Warlock Gul'dan, the former student of our people's greatest Shaman Ner'zhul formed what was a cabal of like minded Orcs and formed the Shadow Council and with the of his new masters, he worked to turn us into the monsters the humans thought us to be. Our kind fought with the Humans of Azeroth first, we defeated them and forced them to leave their lands behind. We had them on the run until we were betrayed by both Gul'dan and his Ogre Mage lackey, Cho'gall as they took their clans during the final assault on Lordaeron's capital itself. This fractured the Clans and this gave the Alliance a chance to strike fast and hard on us. Even after our Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer defeated those two and their followers, Cho'gall escaped and even after Gul'dan was slain by the very demons he unleashed…their actions resulted in the fall of the Horde. With our forces fighting one another, the Alliance fought back, they led a counter attack and even after Doomhammer killed Anduin Lothar in battle personally, that only served to enrage the Humans and they defeated us."

"After the fall of the Dark Portal, our people were taken to internment camps while others managed to escape and hide from the Alliance. Our people suffered some sort of withdrawal that drained us of our spirit greatly; many would willingly waste themselves away while others fought it as best they could like my father did. We were all in despair while others were used as slaves and amusements by the humans, it was like so and we all thought we were all going to be doomed to waste away into nothing. It was then that the Warsong Clan and the free Orcs were led by Orgrim Doomhammer to free us along with the aid of the new Shaman Thrall. The forces of our newly liberated kin freed even more, but the last camp had been alerted to our attacks and many were killed to secure our freedom, including Orgrim himself. There our new Warchief, Thrall, son of Durotan rose to wear the armor and wield the Doom hammer and lead us to freedom."

"He led us to the last Human base and tried to parlay with the leader, one human going by the name Blackmoore, but the drunken human scum replied by tossing down the head of his mistress, a close friend of our new Warchief, the human woman named Taretha Foxton who had been the Warchief's friend since his youth. He was enraged by this and we attacked…he then send the second in command of that accursed keep to tell the Alliance that if they were to release the remaining Orcs and give us lands to use, if they left us alone, we would cooperate and trade with them without going to war. If they attacked us, then we would fight and we would make the Warlock controlled Horde fade off into nothing and look like mere children."

The Spartan nodded at this, taking in the information while his MJOLNIR mark VI's helmet was still online and recording the information that he was being told by Nashkar. It was then that John decided to ask the question that had been there in his mind since reading the records about the Orcs from the books in Theramore and in Darnassus.

"If your people were able to have lands even in Lordaeron, why did your people come here to Kalimdor?"

Nashkar smiled a bit at that and replied.

"Ah….that is a long tale, suffice to say, it was due to a Prophet."

"Prophet?"

"Yes human….this Prophet came to our Warchief one night and told him that dark shadows….demons of the past were coming back, and only by traveling to the lands of Kalimdor were we going to have a chance of saving our people and gaining our destiny. Our Warchief did so though he had his doubts, after dealing with the Alliance that had captured Grom, we took their ships and traveled out from the lands of the humans."

"It was not an easy trip for we had to fight the murlocs and their Sea Witch and free our now current allies the Darkspear Trolls from death, and when we came to the lands of Kalimdor, we faced the centaurs and met the Tauren for the first time, we aided them and they in turn aided us as well. We helped their people leave their lands due to the centaur eating away their food supplies and wasting the land away and in turn they told us of the Oracle that would help us and we parted as allies. We traveled to the place where we were to find the oracle but then we were surprised to find that the Alliance was here as well along with our other kin the Warsong Clan."

"The Warchief wished to avoid wasting our time with the humans led by Lady Jaina…"

John was surprised by that a bit and gently spoke.

"You're pardon Nashkar, but you mentioned that Jaina Proudmoore, the current leader of Theramore Isle was the leader of the forces of the Alliance?"

Nashkar nodded, this confirmed what he read in the books in Theramore, however this discussion at least would explain the Orcs' side of the story. He then asked if Nashkar wanted to continue and he did.

"We attempted to gain the aid of the Goblins who resided there to purchase some zeppelins, but Grom and his clan attacked the Humans and that truly worried our Warchief for the Bloodlust that plagued our people had been always a concern for him as this had led to the near defeat of our forces before and the death of Orgrim as well. We had no choice but to fight the Humans all the way to the Oracle as we moved on, we were aided by Cairne and his people as well as the wyverns of the mountains and there we met Jaina Proudmoore and her forces. It was here too that we learned of Grom's corruption and the fall of the Warsong to the curse of Mannaroth."

"We returned and there to our horror, we saw that the Prophet, who we all now knew as Medivh, the Last Guardian who had been thought slain before, was correct in his warning that Grom and our fellow Orcs had been corrupted once more. We had no choice but to fight them though in the end we saved Grom from the curse…after he was cured and told the truth of our people's fall, both he and our Warchief fought with Mannaroth and Grom killed him….freeing not just himself….but all of us from the curse that haunted us for generations. His tale was of corruption but in the end, of redemption as well."

John nodded at this and decided to speak as well.

"I see…"

Dragna then spoke to the Spartan as she was confused as to why a human, as odd as this one before her family would be taking such an interest in their race's culture and their history when few humans bothered with such details.

"Why do you take such an interest in our people's history human?"

"I want to know both sides of the story, I have read about your people in the records of the Alliance, but I did not see you as the enemy at all until I could see and learn for myself your people's own story. I am not from the lands of either Azeroth or of Lordaeron so I have no knowledge of your race. That is why waging war with your people is not my intention at all since you are not enemies of mine to begin with."

Dragna looked at the Spartan until her son Gor'thel spoke to the Spartan.

"If you are not from the lands of the humans as you claim…then where did you come from?"

The Spartan smiled a bit and pointed to the sky and replied.

"I came from the stars if you can believe that."

The Orc family looked at him as if he had lost his mind and the Spartan could not blame them for that exact reaction and replied.

"I have no reason to lie to you, I come from another group of humans but we are not the same as the humans who you know of, the ship you see that serves as my home is made by the humans that I am part of."

The Orcs looked at the ship in wonder and a bit of disbelief as they had to admit that they had been shocked by the sight of it and then hearing that this thing was made by human hands was yet another shock to them all. It took some time but John decided to tell them a bit about himself and the UNSC while avoiding certain details that were sensitive or classified.

"Where I come from, magic of any kind does not exist, and your races most certainly do not exist either. In fact magic is looked upon as mere illusion and fairytales. But mankind in my world used technology in place of everything else. In time, we left our own world's system to colonize other worlds and expand our people's reach through the universe itself. We expanded until we were able to carve an empire of our own if one was to describe the UNSC in that fashion."

Nashkar was very curious about this and asked.

"How many worlds did your people ever control anyway?"

"Last I recall, apart from the home world of mankind where I came from, we controlled at least eight hundred habitable worlds."

That got the Orcs in a state of shock as they looked at the Spartan with great intent as they could see that he was not lying to them in any fashion since he spoke of those things as if they were something that happened every time in front of him.

As he explained things a bit more, he finally touched on the War with the Covenant and the Flood though he kept many of the more sensitive details away from them for the time being as he knew that he could not trust them openly as he did with others just yet. He also planned to tell Erin and her fellow Blood Elves more about himself when the time was right, but for now, that was to be kept in the dark. As soon as he finished, Dragna spoke to him.

"This Covenant's leaders wished to wipe out mankind to hold on to their power?"

"Yes, they didn't want the other races, namely the Elites to learn that the Humans they were killing were the true inheritors of the legacy of the very beings they worshiped as Gods and they certainly did they want the truth of the Great Journey to be revealed. But it was revealed in the end and it signaled their end as we fought back and won, though not without cost, as you all know by now."

As the Spartan finished the young Orc girl asked him a question.

"What exactly are you, you are more than a human to have survived such odds if what you say is true."

John sighed a bit and replied.

'I am a Spartan II Commando, I can't exactly explain all the details as to what that means but suffice to say that we are what one could call super soldiers. We were named as such in honor of the Spartans of the ancient city state of Sparta itself in the home-world of my people. The Spartans were known to be the finest warriors of their time and we were to embody that trait and reputation."

Nashkar then asked the question.

"What exactly made these Spartans unique enough to warrant you and others like you in having their name?"

"The Spartans were warriors by nature and by culture. Every male child born is examined and tested extensively; those who are shown to be sickly or physically deformed are abandoned to die."

The Orcs listened to this and that allowed the Spartan to continue with his explanations, this was not unheard of to them as in their society, they have always worked hard to make sure that their people were able to handle the kinds of dangers their world had to offer, this was why they felt a level of respect for warrior cultures and these humans known as Spartans seemed to mirror them to some extent which was surprising to say the very least as they had not heard of humans willing to do this to their children.

"Those who pass are taken into the barracks at the age of seven and are trained to be soldiers under the watch of veteran Spartans soldiers. They are given little food and have to forage and steal to make up for that, learning how to fight and survive and are punished for being caught, not for stealing. Once they were older, they were required to serve in the army of Sparta until they were thirty years of age to become citizens of Sparta itself, the Spartans are all citizen warriors, trained to endure, survive, and obey without question, and fight with all they have to the end. They are required to marry at twenty but cannot be with their families until they reach the age of citizenship at thirty. They are trained to fight as a unit and all of them treat one another as fellow equals in the battle field and are trained to do what is right without question."

Dragna was silent and so was her mate while her children listened with full attention.

"In the end, they left behind no great works, stories, and stonework, but they left behind a legacy that endured for over four thousand years in the history of mankind in my world. Long ago, the Persian emperor Xerxes began an invasion of the Greek city states, gathering an army that had soldiers from half the known world under his empire's sway. The Greeks marshaled a defense in response with the first being a naval blockade to keep the Persian Navy from attacking while the Spartan King Leonidas gathered three hundred of his Spartan Royal Guard, those with living sons to continue their lines, along with support soldiers and marched to a pass known as Thermopylae."

"There he and his soldiers along with five thousand other Greek soldiers to form an army of seven thousand against Xerxes' forces that numbered a full two hundred and twenty five thousand."

The Orc family listened intently as the images of what the Spartan was describing filled their minds. The images agreed well with the warrior mentality of the Orcs as they nodded for the Spartan to continue with his telling of the story.

"For two days, the Spartans and their fellow Greeks fought on, using the terrain, and location to their advantage as well as their equipment and training. They inflicted nearly twenty five thousand losses to the Persians, forcing the Persians to walk over the bodies of their comrades and wade through the blood soaked lands. Eventually they were betrayed when a sheepherder, seeing a chance to become rich at the expense of his fellow Greeks, told the Persians of a pass that allowed them to surround the Greeks. The Greeks knew there and then that they were finished, Leonidas then ordered the Greeks to leave and regroup while he and his Spartans remained to cover the retreat, and they were not alone as seven hundred soldiers from the city state of Thebes stayed with them to fight to the end."

"On the last day, the Persians attacked in full force and the Spartans and their allies fought like men possessed for they knew that every minute they spent fighting would be another minute that their allies could regroup, re-supply, and prepare for the counter attack. The battle lasted nearly an entire day as the Spartans and their allies fought with spears, when those were shattered and broken, they used their swords until they were notched, chipped and shattered, and they used their hands and teeth."

Dragna then spoke the question in her mind as she had pictured what these humans were doing.

"And what happened to the Greeks who remained behind in the battle of Thermopylae?"

The Spartan replied with all seriousness.

"Dead to the last man, Leonidas himself was brought before Xerxes who in a rage for the loss of his forces and two of his brothers had the dead Spartan king's head cut off and placed on a pike while his body was mutilated. But the Spartans and their allies did what they had set out to do and brought the rest of the people of their lands enough time to prepare and rebuild as much as they could. What was by all rights a defeat turned into a powerful victory as they had not only cost the Persian Army much in terms of time, supplies and manpower, but they had broken the fighting spirit of the Persians as they were terrified of fighting the full might of the Spartan Army, for if three hundred Spartans could do this much to them, what would happen if they faced a full army? That is why I and the rest of my brothers and sisters who were part of the program carry the name of Spartan."

John then stood up and bid the Orc family farewell as he had other matters to attend to while they began to talk to one another about what they had just been told by the Master Chief about his origins, and the warriors he and others like him were named after. One thing was certain, they would have much to tell when they returned home to Orgrimmar.

…

As he moved along, he spotted the towering Tauren taking the time to prepare something over a fire and it seemed to be a pot which he could smell was filled with food. He walked over to the Tauren and the massive being turned to him and seemed to smile slightly though the Spartan couldn't really tell since Tauren expressions was lost to him for the moment.

"Greetings human, I was wondering when you would show up."

The Spartan nodded in greeting as he sat down before the Tauren and as he did so, the Tauren spoke to him once more.

"I have to thank you again for your actions in saving my life back there in the caves. Not many humans I've met were willing to risk their lives for a member of the Horde, let alone a Tauren."

"I'm not from around here so I do not have any reason to see you as an enemy."

The Tauren snorted and nodded somewhat.

"I can see that well enough, yet you have a great deal of honor and nobility to offer shelter and protection to all races of this land without any ill intent. I am Mothral Firehoof and a Warrior of my clan, or what was left of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"My clan has very much died out due to the constant raids of the centaur among my people years before. That added with the fact that the centaurs had stripped our lands of all game and edible plant life had nearly doomed all our people to starvation. It was these factors that made the leader of all our people, Cairne Bloodhoof nearly lost all hope, but it was there and then that the Orcs came to our lands. They saved one of our brethren and there the Orcs came to our aid when a centaur army came to attack us. The Orcs saved our race and they aided us in relocating to the lands of Mulgore. For that we swore to be their allies in this land we have been for many years since the Third War that we had fought in. To be honest, this was not the first time that we have fought demons before, and this was not the first time we have been among the Night Elves."

"Long ago, then the Burning Legion first came to this land, according to our lore and history, we were approached by a human mage and an Orc who convinced us as well as the Furbolgs to fight with the Night Elves when the Legion attacked them so long ago. It was there that we established an alliance between the Night Elves due to their druidic ways and respect to nature, which is why that despite the fact that we are now on different sides, we see the Night Elves as comrades and allies. And even though it had been many centuries since then, our oldest kindred have mentioned the Orc before, though he was…different from the ones we ally with now."

John nodded at that as he had read about that in the records in the library there in Darnassus.

"However….not all of our race trust the Orcs."

"Really?"

"Yes, the Grimtotem Tribe and their leader Magatha Grimtotem have this belief that we should not rely on the Orcs and also that the Earth Mother is sickened by the actions of those who have hurt it. They also state that we should heal the land by driving away all those who harm it, by force if we have to. While part of me agrees that we should stop those who harm the land, the idea of using extreme actions is offensive to me and the Grimtotem's actions of killing others, even the Orcs has been a great concern for all of us who look down on their tactics. They do not even hesitate to attack us if we are traveling since they believe that we are betraying the Earth Mother by siding with the Orcs as well. They also see all other races as the enemy and wish to take Kalimdor by force, those of us who feel disillusioned by Cairne's message of peace and friendship joins them as well. They are an embarrassment to many of us and while I am young the idea of slaughtering those who are allies and those who not enemies just because they are not Tauren is a mistake to me."

John didn't like the sound of that at all as this was something that was wrong in every sense in his mind with this kind of setup, sooner or later, these Grimtotem Tauren were going to do something that would truly make a situation that could very well result in civil war. While their tribe might be powerful, they were also volatile and a threat waiting to explode.

"Why would your leader Cairne allow such things to happen?"

"Because the Grimtotem Tribe is one of the largest of the Tribes and their leader holds considering political power and also happens to be the strongest Shaman in the whole tribes of our people. Cairne however will not bow down and neither will his son Baine in the matters concerning the Orcs as both of them have great respect for Thrall and his people. Cairne tries his best to help this mess, but it has not been easy, as he is….getting older in his years, we only hope that his son will be ready should his father pass on to join our ancestors."

After some time talking further with Mothral, John partook of the hot stew that the Tauren made, the stew had meat and herbs in it and it was not too bad to the Spartan. He thanked Mothral for the food and he bid the Tauren farewell and headed for the Trolls who were there.

…

John walked over to the trolls as one of them looked at the Spartan and spoke to him.

"Peace be with ya mon, I am Ruskhain of the Darkspear tribe and I be happy to speak with ya if that be your business with me and ma kin."

John quickly realized that the troll's version of Common was similar to a language spoke on Earth, known as Jamaican. He had no idea how that was possible but decided to keep things to himself for the time being as he decided to spend some time chatting with the Trolls. He knew that this was not the first time that the Orcs and the Trolls worked together, but the records he read stated that these Trolls were different from the Trolls that made up the Horde armies in the Second War so he needed to know more about them and now was a very good time to do so.

Ruskhain looked at the human before him and spoke to him.

"I be thankin ya for givin me and ma kin shelter in this land far our village and lands, never expected a human to be tis hospitable to Trolls like us."

"I'm not exactly from the lands of the humans of the Alliance so I hardly have any reason to hate your race."

The trolls laughed at that and Ruskhain was the loudest who laughed among his kindred.

"That be true mon, ya are not like them humans I met before, so what can we do for ya?"

"I wanted to know about how your race joined the Orcs into the Horde."

"Ah…that be a long story mon, an I wasn't born at the time. But I do know that we Darkspears were not from this land of Kalimdor. We lived on a chain o islands in the place that we know as the Maelstrom. Not a very good place fer ships to be in, let me tell ya, there was always something slumbering there said many of the ol' Witch Doctors when they do their Voodoo magic on the place. We were attacked by them fish men you know as murlocs and the humans from the Alliance before, there we met the Orcs and their Warchief Thrall, not a bad bunch they were, and seriously good help too. After we defeated the humans, the murlocs took many of us and the Orcs, along with our leader at the time, Witch Doctor Sen'jin…"

"The Orcs under the Warchief came an saved many of us and their kin that the fish men took, but they couldn't save Sen'jin as he had been killed first by the Murlocs for their mistress, the Sea Witch. The Witch was not the least bit happy with the killin of her followers, so she unleashed a huge storm along with a volcano to drown us all. We fought with the Orcs to get their ships fixed while Sen'jin's son, Vol'jin became our new leader. After the ships were repaired, we got ready to leave our former home and came here to Kalimdor. There we fought with the Night Elves alongside the Orcs and then with the humans from way beyond the sea…we then fought side by side with them and more of them short human lookin ones along with the Tauren, against them Demons from the Legion at that there mountain with the biggest tree you ever seen mom. That Night Elf Druid summoned some serious magic and put an end to the boss of them demons for good, burned the forests pretty bad though…"

"I see…what happened after the battle?"

"Well…we settled on the Echo Isles, but it wasn't long before trouble reared it's ugly head on me and ma kin once more. Humans with serious hatred in their heads and hearts came to our isles and held us under siege. We got help from the Orcs again along with that massive one named Rexxar and one of our kin Rohkar, along that Pandaren fellow Chen. They saved our hides but we had to leave the Isles behind and settle here next to the Orcs for a spell. Fater getting the aid of the Tauren and even them dumb Ogres, we fought with them Humans…shame too that we had to kill that Lady Jaina's father…she is among the few humans we like….apart from you now of course."

"But it never ended that either…we left the isles once since that crazy Witch Doctor Zalazane began practicing dark Voodoo magic and takin over the minds of his own kin for his own games. Vol'jin never wanted that so we leave our homes again and settled here with the Orcs once more in Sen'jin Village. We tried takin back the Isles and makin that traitor pay for his sins and his madness, but he always escape us like a cowardly rat. His magic makes it even harder to catch the real him to begin with…"

Ruskhain and his kin growled darkly, telling John that his was a very sore subject for the Trolls, not that he could blame them. He had a marked dislike for traitors to the UNSC and saw them as enemies for their actions. Ruskhain the calmed himself and spoke once more.

"We not giving up though, someday we goin to get him and make him pay big time for his crimes…but not today I guess."

John nodded and bid the Trolls farewell for now, he had lot of other things to take care of in this base of his. He needed to play peace maker as well to make sure that the tensions between the Alliance and the Horde races were kept under control and smoothed over before things got to a point where battle was a certainty.

…

For the rest of the week, John and Cortana were busy in the Dawn.

John ran over all the information he had gathered from his new residents and had the data stored away for future reference. For now the primary purpose for him was to catalogue everything and use it all at a much later date. As he looked at the images of the residents in his camp, the good news for him was that they were not trying to do anything that was going to cause trouble for him, though he was still rather wary about the sudden lull of activity as there was always the chance that there was going to be something that was going to happen.

Thankfully Cortana had been more than willing to keep an eye on them all while gathering more and more samples of the languages being spoken by the new residents. The A.I didn't bother with the humans since the language was easy to understand. The ones the A.I was focusing on were the Dwarves, the Orcs, the Gnomes, the High Elves, the Blood Elves, the Trolls, and the lone Tauren as well.

So far the Night Elves were happy to be in the ship alongside Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod and had not been causing any disturbances. However, it seemed that the Night Elves recognized him and seemed to be on fairly good terms with him as the Night Elves greeted him warmly while speaking Common. That was a good thing in his mind and at least they were not causing trouble with the other races, namely those of the Horde.

In fact one of the Night Elves, a young girl named Reisha had taken a liking to him and seemed to enjoy accompanying him in the ship and even in his trips around the camp when he was on routine patrol, though she was very weary when they met the Farstriders and she would hide when seeing the Orcs, though she seemed to be on good terms with the Tauren Mothral Firehoof who was amused with the Night Elf child's questions, showing that despite being from different factions, the druidic relations between the Tauren and the Night Elves was a good thing.

Cortana had taken a level of amusement over the young Night Elf child's friendship with her long time protector. The young child would routinely ask the Spartan to carry her on his shoulder even when he was in his MJOLNIR Mark VI. The Spartan would have refused but Cortana asked him to do so and he eventually decided to do so. It was a very amusing thing for the A.I whenever Reisha was riding on the shoulder of the Spartan with John doing his best not to hurt the young child.

Apart from Cortana, the other Night Elves including the three Night Elves who were part of his group were always smiling when they saw the young girl riding on the shoulder of the Spartan whenever she could be with him. Kaelyn and Sandra had recovered after several days and were very much happy to see the young child happy in the hands of the Spartan while her parents were happy to see their child smiling after being held prisoner by the Twilight's Hammer Clan and seeing all sorts of horrors for one so young, the fact that the Spartan was willing to be her friend was something they respected greatly.

…

He decided to give something as a surprise for the Night Elf children as it was something that he wanted to try out a bit. He got to work as Cortana was more than willing to help him out with what he had in mind as he got to making an oven made from bricks and getting it done in a certain detail due to him being handed blueprints by Cortana. Once it was don , he began to work on some flour dough with Cortana helping him out a little. Once he was satisfied that he got the mixture right, he went to work on it and got the oven cooking and made his first pizzas as a gift.

Naturally it took a little trial and error for the Spartan, as cooking was hardly one of his treasured skills, but he was quick to learn and soon had the food cooking, much to the amusement of Cortana who teased him for going through all the effort just to make a present for the precocious Night Elf child who had taken quite a liking to him. However she approved that John was a lot more open about such things and willing to socialize more. After a while he finished his first pizza and gave it to Reisha with it having tomato sauce, green and red peppers, sliced pepperoni sausage, olives and healthy mozzarella cheese.

The smell of the product was more than enough to attract the attention of the people there and Reisha was quite curious what her guardian had made, it was not a large pizza by nature and only had six slices for the young girl to eat. However, she quickly took a liking to the food despite her initial wariness at the look of the pizza. As soon as she took a bite she smiled and ate the food happily and remembered to give some to her fellow Night Elves who also took an interest of the food.

He had to also take the time to try making some for the other races who were curious as to what this new food item was. He made one pizza that was known as the Meat Buster back home on Earth for the Orcs since by judging from their jaw structure, they were more passionate about meat, pork in particular so he went for ham and bacon for that one. As soon as those were done, he handed them Nashkar and his family and they were taking some time to eating it and seemed to be all right with it. The same could be said for the Blood Elves, Humans, High Elves, the Dwarves and the Gnomes, and even the trolls seemed to like it.

They naturally asked him that the food was and he told them that it came from the UNSC and was a favorite luxury food item among Humanity where he came from. Of course he also decided to use other food items as well such as the Japanese art of sashimi with the fish and meat he had on hand which actually was to the liking of the Orcs and the Trolls as they had never tried this kind of food preparation before. The Night Elves were not too into it and neither were the humans or the elves; however the Dwarves found it neat and so did the Gnomes and they took to the food easily. The next food item that he brought out were pancakes and waffles, two food items that could have berries or chocolate in them and could be coated with butter and syrup. The Humans and the High Elves were more than willing to try out the food and they loved the taste of the food items as well.

As Cortana recorded the events concerning the food, she listened to the languages and comments made by the residents, she also made sure to see how John was handling the meetings between the residents of the base, she began to think ahead and figure out what they should do in order to accommodate more people on the off chance that they were going to be visited by more people in the near future. However she knew that they were going to have to find a solution to how they were going to allow others into this place since this was still Night Elf lands. While she and John were treated as welcomed guests, the others were not and there was no doubt that some of the Night Elves would not like it if there were too many people in their lands.

She had no idea what they would do for this kind of situation, but there was no doubt that they were going to find a solution soon enough when the time came. For now she watched as John talked with each member of the Horde and Alliance faction races in order to learn more about their respective race as well as also use what he had learned to fill up the gaps that they had been able to gather from the libraries of Darnassus, Theramore Isle, and Stormwind. However, the two of them also planned to go to the other major cities of both the Alliance and the Horde in order to gather more valuable information of the lay of the land and it's people.

…

It was not long that Cortana managed to convince him to bring out several types of drink from the Dawn's storage for the sake of trying it out to see how they would take it. Giving Reisha a sample of lemonade was not a problem as she took to the drink easily enough, while the other Night Elves were able to adapt to the other drinks such as orange juice, iced tea, and hot chocolate that he had prepared.

As for the other residents of his base, the Orcs had naturally taken to the beer well though the children were content with the lime juice that he gave while the Blood Elves and the Tauren were happy for the root beer and herbal tea respectively while the Trolls tried the rum.

However, he made the mistake of leaving the more potent soft drinks around and it was not long before the results of his action was seen as he looked to see that the Dwarves and the Gnomes had targeted the container and were now drinking away on the soft drinks that were in it. It was not long before the results of taking that drink became obvious as the caffeine began to set in and soon the Dwarves and Gnomes were acting like they were giddy and drunk which in itself was a real surprise to everyone involved.

After seeing the Dwarves and the Gnomes turn themselves into gibbering idiots due to the caffeine in the soft-drinks that they wanted to try out from him, he decided that the next time he offered a drink to any being from this world; he would have to test them for any possible reactions like this. The only good thing, if one could call it good, which came out of the whole event was the antics of the hyperactive Dwarves and Gnomes was that it eased the tension there as the other races laughed at the sight. Even he managed to chuckle a bit at the sight as they were singing and bawling around like drunkards and that was saying something since Dwarves were known to LOVE alcoholic drinks.

He decided to try something good for the Dwarves and found that someone in the Dawn's crew had shipped some vodka and sake into the storage of the Dawn and while alcoholic drinks were forbidden while on duty, that certainly didn't stop members of the UNSC of various ethnical backgrounds to try and take those drinks into the ships that they served in. he naturally didn't drink himself and he decided to give these to the Dwarves as well as the Gnomes. As soon as he took the drinks to the Dwarves and Gnomes after they recovered from the caffeine induced lunacy and they tried it, the Dwarves were quick to take a liking to sake while the Gnomes were into the vodka. Those drinks were the only ones he was willing to give them free of charge and even gave them files on how sake and vodka were made.

He also explained to the Gnomes and Dwarves that vodka could be used in mixing drinks to create new types of drinks, that naturally got the attention of the two races as they began to wonder just how they were going to use the drinks that the Spartan had given them.

…

Along the way were naturally the various questions that were asked of him, mostly about his world, the questions ranged from what kind of people were there, what sort of worlds did the UNSC have under their control, how did they develop technology, all the way to whether he had a mate of his own. That particular question was more than enough to get him in trouble as the female Night Elves and the Blood Elves had been very curious about that topic.

He answered naturally of course and stated that he actually had no partner waiting for him as he was a Spartan and there was hardly time for…intimate partnership where he came from since there had been a war at the time. This had helped calm many people but to Cortana's amusement that seemed to put the women who were attracted to the Master Chief at ease and make them appear all the more eager to go ahead and pursue him. She had been tempted to mention that John's body had been altered so that his sex drive had been suppressed and it would take a much greater level of effort for him to be attracted physically to a woman as well as also getting into the mood of things as she put it, but she decided not to reveal that fact to the women since it would have been quite a shock.

She made that clear to John as well, much to his discomfort as he was not in the mood to guess what would be the results of that coming out. The other questions were fairly easy enough to answer as they dealt with topics that the Spartan was comfortable enough to answer. He told them that the Government structure of the UNSC was still based on the Democratic system and after explaining some of the details of this form of Government such having equal rights to all from rich to poor, he decided to not go too deeply into the details since some of the concepts of democracy might have adverse effects on society in general.

Another question touched on the way the society was towards women, this was asked by most of the beings in the Dawn. He naturally told them that women were very much given rights to everything and were able to take part in all parts of society, both civilian and military, much to the approval of most of the beings there, most notably the Night Elves and the Orcs, no doubt due to the way the women of their respective races were seen in their society.

The next question was on how they were able to live with technology without the destructive natures that were supposed to accompany it. John explained that the UNSC had evolved technologically where there was little to no waste products that would be harmful to people, livestock and the environment. That was surprising to the Night Elves, Humans, Gnomes and Dwarves due to the fact that their technology usually had some waste products and they were very curious as to how the humans where John came from had been able to bypass that problem. John explained that the UNSC had focused o researching in alternate power sources as well as improving the manufacturing technology and practices of their industry to use all the resources with minimal expense and no waste.

Another question dealt with the people itself, he was confused for a moment or so until he managed to get the idea on what the question meant. He then explained that there were actually various human groups and nations just like the human nations in Azeroth itself. But they each had different histories, traditions, cultures, religions while there were those nations who had the same religion but with differences in many aspects of that religion, customs, languages, societies and more. John explained a number of them to his guests and they were quite surprised to hear this.

He also pointed out to the Orcs, the Tauren, the Trolls, the High Elves, the Night Elves, the Blood Elves, the Dwarves and the Gnomes that since their races never existed where he came from, humanity where he came from had evolved differently and had a different way of seeing things, though he pointed out that some of the ancient human cultures had similarities to some of them, namely to the Orcs, the Tauren, the Night Elves, and even the Trolls due to the existence of Shamanism, Druidism, and Voodoo magic among some human societies and cultures.

The next was whether there had been great wars and leaders in his land of origin, John told them about many of the battles in the UNSC history and the various leaders that rose in humanity's time. It was a long series of questions, but he answered them as best they could. There was no doubt in his mind that these stories were not going to be forgotten by his guests soon though he had to wonder what the results would be if they told their fellow beings of it all.

…

John also busied himself by learning the rest of the information he could find from the items he had been able to collect for a while now in order to be more familiar with this world that he was in. One thing was that the potions that were used for healing. They determined that the potions contained several beneficial compounds and were actually enchanted to help the body's healing process which would explain why these were so high in the market. In a way these were the mystical equivalent of Bio-foam though in this case, the effected were permanent. What was more interesting about these healing potions was that the more concentrated the dosage of the healing agents, the more effective the healing was.

He and Cortana began to do what they could in order to find a way to make this usable as some of the compounds had to be tested on him to see if his body might develop and allergic reaction. This meant that he was going to have to make himself into a live test subject, not something one did everyday nor wanted to neither, but he was a Spartan and he had been a lab subject before. Besides it could help in the long and Cortana herself scanned some of the compounds and stated that they were harmless and they could even perfect it a bit more with enough tweaking and experimenting.

Another thing was the weapons he found, like the Truesilver, these weapons had some level of enchantment to make them more effective as well in battle despite being medieval weapons, breaking them down was a viable option but he decided against it for now, until he found out more about how one enchanted weapons he was going to worry about it later. And if Cortana was able to find a viable alternative that gave the exact same results, then all the better for him, since while he was beginning to respect magic, that certainly didn't mean he trusted it completely to help him. He already figured out that while magic was powerful it was limited and when a spell caster ran out of mana as they termed it, or had his or her spell interrupted, they were easy prey for their enemies…and he was not planning to be in that same situation anytime soon.

He also took an interest in the applications of the substance known as Phlogiston, the substance was quite interesting and could be useful in many ways. It was like an accelerant and he was familiar with such things as part of his education on Reach. This substance however could be easily harnessed in vast quantities with the right device and he could use that to develop some very interesting tools. Not to mention that it would serve as a useful weapon component in the future.

…

His last course of action was talking to the Dwarves and Gnomes who had taken residence in his base for now and giving them the information that he knew would at least explain portions of the technology they had seen thus far. It was something of an eye opener for the Dwarves and the Gnomes as he explained a number of the basic concepts of the vehicles and weapons that he had on him. He also, rather reluctantly allows them to see some of the rooms in the Dawn such as the Medical Bay, the Engine Room, and one of the Armories. However he made it very clear that he had no intention of having them take any samples of information or any of his weapons, least of all any schematics as he pointed out that he had a very good reason for this.

And that was that he wanted to allow this world to evolve on their own terms and their using their own concepts. He pointed out that their cultures have already gone far enough before he showed up so there was hardly any reason for him to let them use technology that was very much beyond their level since there was no telling what the results would have been if he allowed them to use the technology he had.

John had a very good reason for denying them the use of his technology as he was a student of history and the lesson was that when advanced cultures introduced technology and ideas to developing cultures, the results, while positive at first would also stagnant the growth rate of the developing world's own culture and development as they would start using the newly introduced technology and throw away what they had already developed. Besides, John already had seen enough records to tell him that the Dwarves and Gnomes were well on their way to developing their own unique technologies and while they could benefit from his world's technology, he preferred it that they grew on their own terms to a level where sharing his world's technology was going to be considered a good move on his part.

…

All in all, the past week and a half had been a hectic level of activity for the Spartan as he knew that he was going to be very busy with other matters in the coming days and while it had little to do with him being in the battlefield. However, he knew that he had some important things to deal with, namely the prisoners who had been here in his base of operations, The Night Elves were not too hard to deal with as they were more than able to return home though Reisha showed sadness in leaving the base when she left with her family as well as her fellow Night Elves. The Humans, High Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves were easy as well as all he needed to do was to take them to Theramore isle and talk to Jaina to send them on ships back to the mainland of Azeroth. However, the Orc family, the lone Tauren, the Blood Elves, and the Trolls needed to be transported to Horde lands and the only place where they could be sent was naturally to the city of Orgrimmar.

He knew that it would require him to send word to Jaina to inform the Horde leadership that he was coming to their lands to return their lost people and he would also wish to tour their lands and learn all that he could about them. He had a feeling that there was naturally going to be some friction and resistance towards what he intended to do from others in the Horde leadership, but that was understandable to him. Besides, he also knew that Jaina was a trusted ally of the Horde leadership, namely by the leader of the Orcs and leader of the Horde known as Thrall.

From what he was able to piece together about the Warchief, he seemed to be more than able to lead his people, the fact that he was willing to work with humans and make peace attempts between his faction and that of the Alliance was a good sign. There was still a lot he didn't know about the Warchief, but the things he did know made him realize that he might have an easier time in dealing with the Warchief than most of the others, namely those that he heard about.

Cairne and Vol'jin also seemed to be fairly approachable from what he had been able to learn from Mothral and Ruskhain as the two Tauren and the Troll had high praise to their respective leaders. This was a good thing in John's mind as this would certainly ease the situation when he finally met them face to face.

It was the other leaders that concerned him, one being this Orc named Garrosh Hellscream, leader of the Warsong Clan and second in command of Thrall, as well as the old Crone of the Grimtotem Tribe of the Tauren. These people were of great concern to him as there was no telling what were the results if they ever decided to face him. He knew that he was more than ready to defend himself but it had to be in a fashion that would not have dire repercussions for him in the long run as he was not in the mood to have the Horde march up his doorstep and cause trouble for him. Not to mention the fact that if they did move toward shim, there was a very good chance that the Alliance would mistake the action and it could spark a war.

And he was not in the mood to be the cause of a war between two factions as big as the Alliance and the Horde since there was no telling what were the results of that happening were going to be. But that certainly didn't mean he was going into their lands unprepared.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the deal in the update, my internet connection kind of went on the fritz for a while so I was a bit late in posting this. It's not action packed and a bit corny in my honest thought, but it was to a good way to show something about what John is doing when he is not fighting and having to deal with this many people under his watch.

Okay, the pizza reference might be a bit much and so would the coffee and soft drinks thing, but hey, foreign food and drink have a way of doing that. Besides, John did have reservations in allowing the Night Elves and the Blood Elves from trying coffee as he had no idea what caffeine might do to them since their body chemistry was still something of a mystery to him and who knew that the results would have been. Not to mention the sashimi stuff would have really gotten some level of interest as well as the pancakes and waffles, and also the other drinks such as vodka and sake for the Dwarves and the Gnomes.

Now with that out of the way, we are now going to get to the part where John will soon be dropping in with the Horde, not only to drop off the rescued Horde prisoners after allowing the Alliance prisoners to go home, but to meet the Horde leadership themselves, though how he will react when meeting Sylvanas is going to be fairly interesting as soon as he comes to Orgrimmar. How will Thrall and the others react when they learn just who it is they will be dealing with in this soon to come meeting?

That we will have to wait and see soon, also John has now been able to hear the exact story of the Blood Elves as well as those of the Trolls, Orcs, and the Tauren thanks to his time chatting with his guests. How will these things he's learned help him in dealing with the leaders of the said races?

That in itself will also be very interesting to see now won't it?

On the next chapter of this arc will naturally be where the Master Chief will spend time with the Horde and you can bet that the Night Elves who will join him are going to have to deal with being close to the Horde races and that is going to make things very interesting for both sides. How will Thrall and the other leaders of the Horde deal with the sight of John working with both members of their faction and that of the Alliance?

Also, will certain Horde individuals give John a headache in the near future? This sneak peek should be a good idea of what is to come.

…

Trailer…

…

Garrosh growled a bit as he got up and rubbed his chin feeling pain shooting all over his body as he glared at the human who he was fighting. The leader of the Warsong Clan looked on at the Spartan who was now bare of his armor and wearing only a set of pants and boots while his gear was being watched over by the three Night Elves and the Blood Elves who were with him.

The human he had challenged to a duel was unharmed and still only armed with a wooden staff while he used his axes in this battle and had none of his armor on, expecting to win this fight against this Spartan. But the fight turned out differently as he was moving very fast and attacking with amazing speed and hitting with amazing power. At first the Orc thought that his foe was using hidden magic and spoke that out.

However, Thrall himself replied that the Spirits sensed no magic from this human and as such, he was not cheating in any possible fashion. That made Garrosh even more enraged as he charged at the Spartan with a loud roar…

The Spartan seemed to be relaxed and unafraid as he moved in and blocked many of Garrosh' attacks on his person while the assembled Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, and some of the Undead looked on as the Spartan continued to fight evenly with Garrosh. The fight went on until the Spartan managed to block one attack but had his staff broken into two by Garrosh' other weapon.

Garrosh grinned but his grin faded as the Spartan quickly attacked with both broken parts of his staff and hit him fast and hard with a barrage of attacks, surprising the Orc with the way he seemed to see the destruction of his staff as a minor thing and instead attacked with both pieces. The fight wore on until Garrosh was relieved of both axes as the Spartan forced him to one of the nearby stone pillars and the Spartan struck out with his fist.

The Orc managed to evade the attack, but his mouth gaped and so did the jaws of all gathered in the arena as the Spartan's fist hit the granite pillar and shattered a portion of it and sent the pieces flying away into the arena and he did so without uttering a single cry of pain. Garrosh looked at the Spartan as John pulled away his fist, uncaring for the cuts on his hand and moving his fingers as if they were not injured at all without a single expression on his face as he spoke.

"Do you want to continue?"

Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod smiled at how the Spartan had fought, both women happy that he was more than all right, while Erin smiled warmly, Janna nodded with a look of approval while Tannis was indeed impressed. They were not alone as Nashkar and his family was also there and the Orc was surprised at how this human fought. They were not alone as Mothral and Ruskhain looked on at the way the Spartan had fought without his MJOLNIR Mark VI or his weapons of choice.

As for the leaders of the Horde…

…

Thrall was looking on in amazement, in all of his years growing up and leading the Horde, he had never seen any human who didn't have the aid of magic fight like this before, he had heard of humans with great skill and strength, but this…Spartan was truly different. For a moment, he wondered just what had been done to this human to make him like this, he decided to talk to him and Jaina later to get more details, but one thing was certain in the mind of the Warchief. This human was not to be taken lightly for any reason. And he had a feeling that he was going to have a very long discussion with this human soon enough.

He could also see the very same thoughts in Varok, his son Dranosh, Rehgar, Lonetree, and Eitrigg as well.

…

Cairne Bloodhoof rubbed his beard slowly, impressed by how the Spartan fought, he moved in such a way that was beyond what he had seen humans be able to do. The strength he displayed and the sheer lack of pain on his face after doing that to a solid granite pillar told him that this human was not one to take lightly and it would make sense what Jaina had said about him. This human was interesting despite his use of technology and he could bet that there was lot more to him as well as was to be believed by what Mothral had told him.

Baine himself was curious about this human and wondered what else was there to see.

…

Vol'jin was impressed as well as he ran his hand on his chin and thought of what he had already seen. He knew that he still knew little of this human but he could very well be a great ally should he manage to convince him to help his people reclaim their home in the Echo Isles. The Darkspear Troll leader naturally he was not sure that it would be that easy, but there was no sense not trying at all.

…

Lor'themar Theron looked at the human with a very curious eye, he had seen humans before and had fought with a few of them, one being the Paladin Jorad Mace. But this human was undeniably different as he seemed to radiate power and fight with a skill that few humans possess. He could see now why he had recently been told that Erin had sent a letter to be assigned with this…Spartan and the same could be said for Janna and Tannis. He wondered if it was possible to ask for this human's aid in the near future…as he had a feeling that there will come a time that his people will need allies….even if they were not part of the Horde.

…

Sylvanas looked at the human with some level of interest, she despised humans and those who served with the Alliance and wanted nothing to do with them. However…this human, this Spartan was different, her spies were able to tell her that he was not a user of magic in any form, but possessed technology the likes of which they had never seen before. And he seemed to be beyond any human is able to become as he was quite skilled and capable in battle. They also heard rumors of him actually annihilating the Defias Brotherhood by himself without any aid from the Alliance!

While she had no love for the Alliance and cared little for their problems…the fact that they were all annihilated by this human all by himself was a feat worthy of attention from the Banshee Queen. Added to that was what she had just witnessed before her, this human was power incarnate in her eyes…and could be useful in the near future.

…

How is that for a trailer?

See you soon!


	14. Chapter 14

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or WOW, so therefore, do not send the legal goon squad over okay?

Chapter 9

Part 1

Meeting the Horde…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Albatross…

John looked over the images of Dustwallow Marsh and saw that there was not too much activity over the swampland at the moment as he guided the massive drop-ship over towards Theramore Isle in order to drop off the Humans, High Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes there for them to find safe passage back to their respective lands. And as soon as he got there, he was going to try and convince Jaina Proudmoore that he needed help in order to speak to the Horde leadership in more favorable terms. He looked in the back and so far, it was rather tight in the back at this rate, the Orc family were on one side, the Trolls on another, the same for the Blood Elves, and also the Tauren was taking over another spot while the Alliance races were on the other side.

The good news was that since the Albatross was rated to carry heavy vehicles, supplies and larger numbers of troops as well as serve as a Command Center in the field, it was able to handle the large load of people that were in the back right now. The only people keeping the peace were naturally the Night Elves who were with him for some time now as well as Erin, Janna, and Tannis. As he guided the Drop-ship over the swamp area, he also checked his own gear, he still carried his trademark Assault Rifle and a M6G Magnum as well as a Combat Knife and a pair of Frag Grenades, but the guns and the grenades were naturally loaded with TTRs for a non-lethal take down situation that he might find himself in the very second he was in the lands of the Horde. For now however, dropping off the Alliance prisoners was his main concern for the day as they needed to return home to their respective people.

He turned just as Kaelyn walked into the cock-pit giving him a smile as she spoke.

"It will be good to be resting in Theramore for a bit before going to the lands of the Horde….though I am not looking forward to that."

John was quick to pick up on that and knew what the reason was, since the Night Elves held the Orc race completely responsible for the death of Cenarius during the stages of the Third War, there was no doubt in his mind that going to the lands of the Horde was not going to be easy for Kaelyn. The same could be said also for Sandra and Jarrod and it still worried him even though they had already said months before that they were willing to go with him wherever he goes.

"Are you sure that you all want to come with me? I know that you, Sandra, and Jarrod can handle yourselves well in battle, but we are going to go into Horde lands and there's no telling what might happen."

Kaelyn smiled gently and replied.

"We'll be fine, I have a feeling that we can find a way to overcome that particular difficulty somehow."

The Spartan sighed a bit to himself and knew that while optimism was good to have, too much of it was not. It might be the pessimist in him saying that, but he was not going to let too much optimism blind him and the others as well. As he looked at the sight of Theramore Isle, he turned to speak to Kaelyn once more.

"I am going to talk to Lady Jaina first and arrange travel plans for the Alliance members we have on board as well as hopefully arrange a non hostile meeting with the Horde leadership. While I am doing that, make sure to avoid attracting attention from the others. If anything happens, contact me all right?"

The Night Elf Sentinel nodded to that request as the Albatross was now over the Dustwallow Marsh and soon approaching the city of Theramore, there was no doubt in the Spartan's mind that this was not going to be an easy meeting for him as he was going to be dealing with the Horde this time around, so there was no telling how they would react to his presence and that of the Night Elves that traveled with him to the land of the Orcs and of the other Horde races.

As he guided the Albatross for a landing in a good spot in the island city, it was not long before his arrival was soon seen by the residents of the island city as many people began to gather as well as members of the Theramore Guard, who no doubt were deployed there to maintain some semblance of order with his arrival. It had been nearly two or nearly three months since he had come to Theramore so it was rather surprising to the residents that he would be coming back today of all days.

As Kaelyn walked back, she sat next to Sandra who was feeding her pet White Claw with some meat while Jarrod was still relaxing for a moment or two as she spoke to her comrades.

"You two are going to be all right about this?"

Sandra looked at her and nodded a bit though the Sentinel could tell that she was worried, in fact, so was she, the idea of walking into the very lands of their long time enemies ever since the slaying of Cenarius was not the least bit tasteful. By right they should have just stayed back in the Dawn and allowed the Spartan to handle things himself as he was more than able to hold his own in battle.

Still they decided to come along…all because even though they knew that he was able to handle himself well without aid, they were loath to leave him alone in the lands of the Horde as they knew that there was danger there, danger enough that could become a threat to the man though remote. And not to mention the fact that they were still interested in chasing him and getting his attention in more ways than one.

Kaelyn thought about the situation that she was about to step into and she sighed and rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"By Elune's Grace…I must be completely insane to be even be here."

Sandra raised an eyebrow at that and replied.

"And what makes you think you are insane to be here Kaelyn?"

"I am going into the lands of the Horde Sandra, I have no problems with the Tauren for we have a cordial relationship with them due to their reverence for nature that mirrors our own as well as their aid in the War of the Ancients so long ago…but the idea of being surrounded by the Orcs, the Undead, the Trolls, and even the Blood Elves who are there….the whole thing is too much for me to fathom, the ancient Orc hero Broxigar might be the only Orc our people respect. But here I am still, all because of a human male."

Sandra smiled at that, seeing that her long time friend was truly at a loss as to why she was here of all places, not that she didn't feel the same way, she had ventured into the Horde lands but only to visit the friends she had among the Tauren in Thunder Bluff, but never in the lands of the Orcs or the Trolls as well. And now here she was, also due to the fact that she was rather interested in the Spartan as well.

"Then we're both insane Kaelyn, but that is to be expected since we both happen to be very much attracted to the same man…and let's not forget, he did try to convince us to stay behind, but we came anyway. All because we happen to have a deep attraction to him and letting him out of our sight is not something neither of us want to do."

Kaelyn looked at her long time friend and knew that what she was right, however she did have a concern to speak out to Sandra, she knew that her friend was attracted to the Spartan as she was though how deep that attraction went, she didn't know for sure. She also had to admit that she was not really looking forward to fighting with her long time friend over the Spartan so she really wanted to know just what was her friend's thought regarding their respective attraction Spartan.

"Sandra, I have to ask something…are you really interested in him as well as I am?"

The Night Elf Hunter smiled a bit at that and replied in a somewhat teasing manner.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean by that, I have seen the times you look at him, and it is rather unexpected for me to see it though that should be expected since he is…well attractive to any woman's eyes. And I do happen to be attracted to him as well, I do not like the idea of having to fight you over him, we have been friends for a long time Sandra, before and after you left to be a Hunter and the idea of us fighting over a man, let alone a human from the stars and another world, is not very helpful."

Sandra nodded as she could tell that her friend was very serious about this matter and she decided to say her part.

"I am interested; there is no denying the fact that he is a handsome human and actually very much the kind any regular woman would be attracted to. But after hearing about his life and the things he has endured, I can't help but want to help him in a far more serious fashion, though I have no doubt that with him being rather clueless on the matter of our respective attraction towards him, that will take a while. But I did learn something about men in my travels, that trait of being clueless can be rather charming as well."

"What can you possibly mean by that?"

"Well, it means that once you make him become aware of your attraction to him, he might very well surprise you in ways that you would least expect. At any rate I can understand your concern on the matter, I personally don't like the idea of fighting you over him, we've fought and bled together in battle too many times when we were in the Sentinels Kaelyn. So how about we agree on a compromise on this whole situation?"

Kaelyn wondered just what was going on in the mind of her old friend as she couldn't help but feel some level of wariness from the way Sandra's eyes were gleaming towards her.

"What sort of compromise to do you have in mind concerning the Spartan?"

"Well…we can pursue him on our own terms, but if one of us does succeed, we can certainly talk about it together and even share him with one another once in a while or even at the same time."

Kaelyn was surprised completely by that statement and looked at her friend as if she had grown another head entirely.

"Have you lost your mind? Where in the name of Elune did you ever think up THAT idea?"

Sandra smiled at that and replied.

"It's not as bad as you think actually Kaelyn, in that way at least we don't have to end up aiming arrows at one another in jealousy as well as giving the Spartan more headaches which I have no doubt he doesn't need. And I hardly doubt any normal man would say no to the idea. And it's not like it's a crime since none of our laws have anything against the whole idea of being able to share a mate, and let's not forget this, our people do take companions for life since we don't exactly marry in the way humans and other races do. Besides that, this is just an idea so you can always say no to it after all."

Kaelyn blushed deep purple as she looked at her friend who was smiling a lot more at her embarrassment and she decided to speak out about what she had just suggested they do when it concerned the man that they were getting attracted to. The idea of doing that with the Spartan was something that she had never considered at all. And while a tiny part of her mind seemed to agree with the idea to make sure that she and her friend didn't become enemies over the Spartan, the other side of her mind was not exactly in agreement with the idea.

"All right…I'll admit that there is a SMALL part of me that agrees with the idea, but do you really think that the Spartan would ever agree to it? I don't think we've ever asked him on this matter before and even if we did, we don't know exactly how he will react to such an idea."

Sandra nodded at that as she knew that her long time friend spoke the truth on that matter, but she was not too bothered by it and she replied.

"True…but still, you'll never know, that's where the fun lies Kaelyn, it's the mystery around the Spartan that makes it worthwhile to keep that idea in reserve. Besides, if I were to recall, he did mention that some human societies do practice having more than one partner in his world. So he might know about it and could be receptive to the idea."

Kaelyn shook her head and replied.

"I rather doubt that."

That was when Jarrod got involved in the conversation as he had been listening the whole time.

"You two really need to slow down and think that idea through, while you are right Sandra that our people don't exactly have laws against it, and our people do take companions for life and not marry in the full traditional sense, you have to remember that the Spartan might have some resistance to the idea himself. We don't all there is about him yet nor do we know if he is interested in pursuing a relationship with a woman, or in this case with more than one woman."

Both female Night Elves had to admit that their Druid companion had a point in that regard, since they were not sure how the Spartan actually felt towards women in general. They did know that he had a close bond with that A.I Cortana, but not much else. Still, they had to admit that they were very much interested in him and so they were willing to try and find out. Sandra nodded at that and replied.

"True, but at least we're serious about trying to find out."

The three talked a bit more as the Spartan finally spoke through the Albatross' COM system that they were about to land and he wanted the Horde members to remain in the transport for now while he negotiated with Jaina on how to arrange passage for the Alliance members who were free to leave the Albatross. He also asked the Blood Elves and the Night Elves to keep the peace while he was out of the ship. Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves were more than willing to do what the Spartan asked of them as they felt the ship land.

They were unaware of the fact that throughout their conversation with one another, Cortana had actually been listening in to the conversation and she recorded the whole thing. She used that information to match up what she and John had learned about Night Elf culture and customs. She smiled and laughed a bit to herself as she read that Sandra did have it right on the whole thing concerning the idea of her and Kaelyn being able to share.

The whole thing was too humorous to her and she had to admit that had John been given a lot more exposure to women in situations that had nothing to do with combat and he was a lot more open to dealing with women, he would have been very surprised if he got wind of this. Most human men she knew would have thought they were in heaven if this kind of situation ever happened to them, but then again her Spartan was still rather clueless towards the whole situation concerning the opposite gender, not to mention the fact that despite all of his socializing for the past few months trying to learn about the various cultures of this land they were, he was still clueless on how to deal with women being attracted to him. She was tempted to inform him of it as he reached to take her data chip out from the holo-tank and load her into the MJOLNIR, but decided that now was not the right time, there would be other times for that sort of thing.

The Alliance passengers were now of and were very much in the mood to get home and tell their families and fellow races what had happened to them and who had come to their rescue, there was no doubt in this kind of situation that John was going to be in for the time of his life once the news came out.

…

In Theramore's halls…

Jaina looked at the Spartan who walked into the halls of her residence, she had not seen him since that episode in Stormwind and it had been some time since she had heard any news from the Spartan and anything he had been doing lately. She smiled and greeted him as he also bowed in greeting to her.

"Chief…it's been some time since you came here, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing all right so far Lady Proudmoore, but I am not here for a purely social call."

"I can see that, so what is the situation you have on your hands right now?"

The Spartan was more than willing to tell Jaina about what he was doing here. She had been surprised by the news that the Blood Elves from Silvermoon had actually deployed a unit of Farstriders to the lands of Kalimdor. She knew full well the Farstriders and their mandate, but it still surprised her that they were willing to actually send a unit of their people's most recognized fighting force this far out. She was also surprised to learn that the Chief had rescued another batch of Alliance members from captivity in the hands of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, the sudden increase in Twilight's Hammer activity was something of a serious concern for the Archmage and she decided that she would have to talk to General Norris to help tighten Theramore Isle's security matters. While she had doubts that the Twilight's Hammer Clan would willingly attack a location like Theramore Isle in the open, she knew enough of the Clan's history to know that they were hardly the kind to look down on.

She listened to what the Spartan had to tell her concerning the Alliance and Horde prisoners he had freed with the aid of his companions, both the Night Elves and the Blood Elves and she was very much content with the news. She had to admit that the Spartan was proving to be quite the anomaly as he was able to work well with members from both the Alliance and the Horde, it was something that she knew would have brought a wide toothy grin on Thrall's face if he was here to see it. Thrall always hoped that there would be peace between the Alliance and the Horde and seeing members of the two sides working well together was something he wished for a good deal.

As soon as the Spartan finished and Aegwynn arrived and greeted the Spartan as well, Jaina then spoke to him about what she would do considering the situation before her.

"I'll start arranging transport for the Alliance members you've rescued Chief, and I have to thank you for bringing this to my attention. The increasing activity of the Twilight's Hammer is a serious concern for me and my people. I can't say that I think they would openly attack Theramore, but their actions are of great for me."

"I can understand that, also I would like to ask if it would be all right if arrangements can be made for me to drop off the Horde prisoners to Orgrimmar?"

Jaina thought it over and nodded as Orgrimmar was by far a good choice to drop off the people that the Master Chief had rescued. There was already an ambassador of the Blood Elves there from what she had last learned and she knew that today was going to be an important meeting with all the leaders of the Horde races. This would also be a good chance for them to meet the Spartan for themselves; she knew that there would be an element of risk since there was no telling how the Horde races would react to the Spartan and his group being in their lands.

"I can help with that, but you should know that going there is going to be somewhat risky as there is no telling how the Horde races will react to you being there. You're not exactly native to this world and while they tolerate the presence of the Blood Elves as they are part of the Horde, you're Night Elf companions will no doubt attract a lot of hostility."

John was well aware of that already and it had troubled him that they were still willing to come with him to Horde lands. He knew that they had agreed to come with him even there, but that hardly made it comforting to know that they were there with him. He knew enough of the racial tensions and hatreds between Night Elves and Orcs so this worried him a good deal. He also knew that he would also be getting some considerable attention from the Horde races and no doubt these were not going to be the least bit welcoming.

But he was a Spartan II and he had dealt with worse things and situations than being given the evil eye…still it would be better that there was some way that things would be less of a problem in the long run. He nodded to Jaina as he spoke to her about what she had already told him.

"I know of the risks, but there is no turning back now."

Jaina smiled and turned to Aegwynn and spoke to her.

"I need to take care of this matter and talk to Thrall and the others, can you handle things concerning the passage of the rescued Alliance members Chamberlain Marah?"

Aegwynn nodded with a smile.

"Of course Lady Jaina."

Jaina then turned to the Spartan and replied.

"As soon as I leave the area to teleport to Orgrimmar, you will have to get to the city in your drop-ship, as much as I like the idea of trying out how to ride inside that machine of yours and see it's insides, this would be better. I'll talk to Thrall and the rest of the Horde leaders to expect your arrival as well as inform them of the rescue that you did of their respective races."

The Spartan nodded as made his way back to the Albatross and was able to make in time to see that the groups there had not been fighting too much though he could tell that there was a good deal of tension between the groups in the Albatross though the Farstriders seemed to be able to keep the peace well enough. He then spoke to the assembled group.

"We'll be heading into the Horde lands now, namely to Orgrimmar itself so I suggest you rest up and get ready for the trip."

That was enough to cut the tension there though not for the Night Elves and John made it a point to keep an eye on them to make sure that they were safe, not just from the Horde they would be meeting, but also from themselves as he had no idea how they would react. He needed to avoid the possibility that they would start fighting with the Horde if given the chance. As soon as he was in the cockpit of the Albatross, he was in a conversation with Cortana who decided to tell him about what she had heard at a better time, now was not one other as he had something to do.

"Now comes the part I have to really worry about."

"I know what you mean by that, meeting the Horde should be interesting, but at least we have some idea on who the players are in that faction. Plus we already know about the unsavory characters who we need to avoid for the moment. Anyway, I have one thing that we need to deal with however."

"That being?"

"How we're going to be watching over our Night Elf companions, the Blood Elves don't have too much to worry about since they happen to be allies with the Horde, but Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod are going to be like the proverbial pork chops in a tank full of piranha if you get my meaning."

"I know."

With that out the way, the Spartan powered up the Albatross and made his way to the lands of the Horde

…

In Orgrimmar…

Thrall had a feeling that this day was going to get interesting as he worked through the reports that were before him once more. It still bothered him somewhat that the Kul'Tiras forces had not given up their drive to attack them all despite the fact that his people outnumbered them a good deal. However, he had other matters to deal with for the day. The other leaders of the Horde factions had already arrived to discuss the recent activities of the Alliance as well as the current situations that they face.

He turned to see Cairne walking in with his son Baine alongside him and he smiled at the sight of the elderly but still very capable Tauren High Chieftain. He and Cairne have worked tirelessly side by side in setting up their new homes and his people owed much to the Tauren. He worried a bit for elderly Tauren as he had been sensing something was wrong with his old friend but so far Cairne had not suffered too much and there was a chance it was merely old age as Cairne had been getting on in the years. He hoped that if and when Cairne did go to meet with the spirits of his Ancestors, his son would do well and lead his people with the same kindness, and strength of his father yet in his own way as well.

He turned to see Vol'jin and greeted the Troll Witch Doctor and current leader of his people, the Troll leader had been a good aid to his people in more ways than one. His people's Shadow Hunters had been valuable allies for their combat skills, and magic, both for healing and dealing with enemy forces, while their Witch Doctors had been an integral part of their forces in fighting the Burning Legion which was why he did his best to maintain good relations with Vol'jin. He knew that Vol'jin wanted to reclaim his people's home in the Echo Isles and he wished he could help, but for now he would have to wait and see how things would develop.

Next he looked at none other than Sylvanas Windrunner, and he still felt a level of wariness towards the now undead Elven Ranger. Thrall had welcomed the leader of the Forsaken with some level of unease, he knew that doing so was not the most welcome action he had taken due to the way the other members of the Horde looked at the Forsaken, they were undead after all despite their new found free will. There was no telling just what they were cooking up underneath the city Lordaeron that they had turned into their own. Not to mention the fact that they were very much against everything the Tauren believe in and the same could be said for his own people and the Trolls. There was also the history of them being one of the enemies the old Horde fought with before when they were still living as the vast majority of them were humans and elves in their previous lives so there was no doubt in his mind that such things were not easy to forget.

Still, he agreed to have them join the ranks of the Horde in order to show that the Horde is willing to welcome those in need as well as setting up a base of operations in the lands of Lordaeron, and this meant that he and his forces could at least have access to new routes for resources, materials, and also make sure that there was a buffer to counter possible assaults in that area. Not to mention that their alliance had actually allowed them to gain the Blood Elves as well. This gave the Horde two new allies that could prove to be a very helpful addition to their forces for now.

This made Thrall look at the arriving Blood Elf leader and current head of the Blood Elf governing body. Lor'themar Thereon was a very stately looking Blood Elf and carried himself every inch a warrior. His own clothing symbolized that fact fairly well as he walked over towards the meeting table in Gromash Hold. Thrall could see that the Blood Elf leader was trying to be courteous, but his glowing green eyes were looking everywhere in the room and Thrall could see that he was not exactly thrilled be here. There was still the history of how the Old Horde had attacked the Elves during the Second War long ago and how close they came to ruining the capital city of Silvermoon. That and the numbers of Elves his people killed were no doubt still very sore topics to mention in front of the Elves.

He doubted also that Lor'themar would forget them, after all, he had been the leader of the Farstriders and had also been some part in the Second War and killed his fair share of Orcs as well as Trolls in battle. The Blood Elves had been able to gain membership in the Horde with the support of Sylvanas, why she did that was unknown to Thrall but he did suspect to some degree that it might have something to do with her origins as a High Elves ranger in the past and wanted to ensure that Silvermoon was still safe. That action told Thrall that she did have some measure of compassion left in her, however, that was still up for debate.

Nevertheless, despite the tensions concerning the Blood Elves, and the unease his people and the Tauren had for their magical addiction and their use of Fel Magic to sate their hunger for magic, they were quite powerful and could truly help the Horde. He kept in mind that they no doubt had their own agendas on the matter, but for the time being, they were allies of his people and as such, he had to give them some benefit of a doubt. He looked to his right as Varok, Dranosh, Rehgar, Lonetree and Garrosh arrived.

The meeting could start as he spoke to the assembling leaders.

"Greetings to you, fellow leaders of the Horde! It is good to see that all of you have arrived here safely in Orgrimmar, I bid you welcome and hope that this meeting will bear good news."

Cairne nodded in greeting and so did Baine along with Vol'jin, both Lor'themar and Sylvanas also bowed but slowly and with the message that while they agreed that he was the leader of the Horde as a whole, they were not all that happy for that fact. He placed that aside for the time being and accepted this situation came with the territory as the humans used to put it. As the leaders gathered, he looked at Vol'jin first and spoke to the Troll leader.

"How goes the situation in your village Vol'jin?"

"Is still de same mon, the others are dying to ave a go at takin out Zalazane…but we came up wit a new idea…something that can put an end to that traitor for good dis time around. And even put a bloody end to da ones in the land of Zul'Gurub who bring that accursed Blood God ma kin an I used to worship but no more."

"Go on, what exactly do you have in mind?"

"The one thing dat all Trolls like me fear more than anything…the Trollbane heirloom sword, the Trol'kalar."

Thrall raised an eyebrow at that as he too had heard of the famed weapon, while Sylvanas and Lor'themar were surprised as they too knew just what Vol'jin was referring to with the former High Elf now the Banshee Queen speaking her surprise at the boldness of the plan Vol'jin had cooked up.

"You want to take the Trol'kalar from the very hands of the nation of Stromgarde by raiding Thoras Trollbane's tomb? That's rather ambitious of you Vol'jin."

Lor'themar snorted a bit and replied.

"Foolhardy if you ask me, there's no denying the weapon's power Vol'jin, but I were to recall, that thing is like a nightmare for even the mightiest Troll. Do you really think that there is even one of your people who is willing to even hold it if by any chance they get it from the tomb?"

"I don know for sure…but it better den doin nothing, I will be telling anyone among the Horde brave enough to take this task, and we do our best to pay him or her well for the effort. And if that plan fails, then we find another way to reclaim our home."

Thrall nodded at that.

"Then I wish you all the luck in that endeavor Vol'jin, anything else that we need to discuss concerning important matters?"

Sylvanas raised her face and nodded to Thrall as she spoke.

"I've sent some of my Shades into the lands where the Scarlet Crusade have been stationed, they still had been making attempts to retake several key towns and cities that have fallen to the Scourge, namely Andorhal and Hearthglen. They so far have been fighting nonstop in the area in question. Normally that is not my concern but my Shades have noticed something odd… it seems that the Scourge have been growing more adventurous of late and it seems that they have been gathering in larger numbers than before in the lands It's almost as if they are amassing for some sort of grand offensive though they are still only starting in smaller numbers."

The other leaders listened in while Lor'themar also spoke.

"I have noted the same as well, only in reverse, there seems to have been a slight decrease in the activity of the Scourge recently in our lands as well. There are still Undead and their leaders have not left their locations, but it seems that they have been sending off numbers of their new followers instead of placing them in the front lines. They seem to be pulling back their forces bit by bit and that is not normal Scourge behavior."

Thrall nodded as he digested the information carefully and spoke.

"Those things are indeed not good signs, this might mean that the Scourge are up to something, what that is I do not know, but we must be wary either way."

It was then that they turned to see a glowing portal appear and they quickly reached for their weapons briefly until Thrall recognized the magic that was coming and signaled his companions to stop in their actions.

"It's all right, I know who it is."

And sure enough, the others quickly recognized Jaina Proudmoore as the Archmage and ruler of Theramore arrived into the Stronghold. As soon as the magic faded she smiled at Thrall and spoke to him in greeting.

"Good to see you again Thrall."

The Orc Warchief smiled and replied.

"It is good to see you again Jaina."

The Horde leaders also greeted the Archmage with different responses from each of the leaders as well.

"Greetings to you Archmage Jaina."

Cairne spoke and so did his son Baine while Vol'jin also spoke.

"Nice ta see a good human's face around here, good to see ya again Archmage."

As for Sylvanas and Lor'themar, their respective greetings towards Jaina were very different from the others and also one another as Sylvanas smiled in a not too friendly manner and spoke towards Jaina.

"Nice to see you here Proudmoore, unexpected but not too much of a hassle since you seem to be in a good mood, judging from the smile you have."

The Blood Elf Leader also spoke to Jaina though in a slightly more courteous manner as he knew that Jaina was quite a capable mage and was still a member of nobility.

"Greetings to you Lady Jaina, it is a welcome sight to see a trust worthy human in this place, though we were hardly expecting you to arrive her today."

Jaina nodded at the greetings and spoke.

"I do have a reason for being here, this might take a while to explain but I believe it would be best I do so since Orgrimmar is about of have a very unusual guest."

It took a good amount of time for Jaina to explain what had happened back there in Theramore Isle and what she was doing here. Thrall and the leaders listened intently to this and while they didn't interfere with what Jaina was trying to say to them, they were somewhat surprised by the news that several members of their respective races had been rescued, with the exception of the Undead, by this being that Jaina mentioned as a Spartan. Thrall, Vol'jin, Cairne and Baine were already aware of the Master Chief and the same could be said for Thrall fellow Orcs, though it was natural that Sylvanas and Lor'themar were somewhat in the dark about this new comer that Jaina was talking about.

The fact that he was coming here was also very surprising news for all involved. As soon as Jaina was finished, Thrall was the very first to speak on this matter before all of them.

"The Spartan is coming here to Orgrimmar?"

"Yes, you might want to send word to your city's guards since they might be in for a serious surprise when he shows up with the group he happens to be with."

Thrall nodded and quickly turned to one of the Kor'kron Guard members in the Hold.

"Warrior!"

The Orc ran up to Thrall and bowed down as he replied.

"Yes Warchief?"

"Call Nazgrel here quickly!"

"At once Warchief!"

The Kor'kron Guard warrior soon left the Hold and after some minutes, the Orc warrior came back and was soon accompanied by another Orc. This one Orc was the one named Nazgrel; he served as the Chief of Security for Thrall and was responsible for the defenses of Orgrimmar, he had been overseeing the current rotation of guards in Orgrimmar while allowing the Warchief to meet the other leaders of the Horde races in private. He entered the room and bowed to the leader of his people in a show of respect and looked at Thrall.

"What is your command Warchief?"

"We have a guest coming in, Nazgrel, a very special one, and he has a certain number of companions with him. Three of them are from the Alliance race of the Night Elves while the other three are from the Blood Elves. And the guest in question happens to be Human as well."

Nazgrel looked a bit annoyed by that, no doubt recalling the attacks by Kul'Tiras but kept his focus on the task at hand as he replied.

"What would you have me do with this guest and his companions Warchief?"

"Bring them here under armed escort, they are not to be manhandled badly or harmed, but I prefer it more that you and a detachment of the Kor'kron Guard to oversee their safety in coming here to the Hold."

Nazgrel nodded at the order and replied to Thrall.

"It shall be done Warchief."

…

In Orgrimmar's outer areas…

The guards around the gates of Orgrimmar were suddenly surprised to see a massive flying machine appear before them and it seemed to be heading straight for the city itself. Many of the raised the alarm as defenders were quick to move into position and prepare to fight whoever or whatever was in the massive machine that soon landed there a fair distance from the gate…well out of shooting range.

The guards quickly began to speak and one of them decided to send word to the Warchief to inform Thrall of the new arrivals. It was then that they spotted one side of the massive machine open up and to their surprise, they spotted an Orc family step out, as well as a number of Trolls, a lone Tauren, and a group of Blood Elves as well. They were confused until one of their officers ordered them to open the gate and send out a detachment of their kin to go and see if what they were looking at was not some sort of mirage. Sure enough a large number of Orcs and even a number of Tauren and Troll forces moved out from the gates to look at the arriving group that seemed to be made of members of their respective species. As soon as they were close enough, the forces saw that it was not a mirage and the beings before them were indeed their kin. The Horde quickly greeted it's own members back with great surprise and wonder. But that wonder turned to shock and disbelief as they spotted another group of people appear.

One was a massive being that wore green and black armor of a make that they didn't recognize as well as wearing a helmet that had a golden visor that hid the beings' face from anyone looking at it. That was surprising in itself already, but what surprised the rest of the forces there was the fact that the massive human sized being was accompanied by three Night Elves and was being escorted by a large number of Blood Elves as well. They were not liking this and a number of the Horde forces began whispering among themselves while pointing at the new group. They had no idea what to make of them, this group that, minus the Blood Elves, would willingly come to the lands of the Horde.

The Tauren, the Trolls, and the Orcs that John and the others had rescued were quick to explain to their respective brethren that these beings were not the enemy and while the Tauren members who were among the forces there were not too hostile with the Night Elves, the Orcs and the Trolls on the other hand were more than willing to show their distrust of the whole situation before all of them.

As for John and the others?

…

As they moved from the Albatross which Cortana had soon placed on full lock down with the use of a copy of herself in the drop-ship to monitor it, the group were quick to see that their arrival in the lands of the Horde was not exactly going to be a pleasant one. Already as they came closer to the gates of Orgrimmar, the assembled forces that no doubt served as the security force for this location were already glaring at them all with uneasy and angry eyes. Though the only exception to that rule were the Tauren themselves as they had a healthy respect for the Night Elves.

John could already tell that the atmosphere in this valley was thick enough to cut with a Combat Knife and filled with enough tension that all it would take was a single action or speech taken in the wrong fashion to really set things off. The Spartan II didn't bother himself too much as he was a capable soldier, but he was neutral here in this world so fighting the Horde was out of the question, but that also put him in a tight spot as he had to consider how he could protect Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod from possible attack. He worried considerably for their safety as there was no telling what could happen here at any moment with the Horde looking at his Night Elf companions with hostility. He learned from Nashkar, Mothral, Tannis, and Ruskhain that Thrall had a policy of allowing visitors of any race to come into Orgrimmar under his protection. And while he understood enough about Thrall to know that he was serious about his decision and also would stand by it and expect his people to follow his plan along with Jaina speaking for him once he met Thrall, there was no telling if there were members of the Horde who might consider breaking that rule as covertly as they could.

Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod also felt the same way, they knew that right now the Horde forces were no doubt wondering what they were doing here and whether they should kick them out the hard way for even thinking of appearing before them. They knew that with them being this deep in Horde lands, any hope of rescue was dim at best had they not traveled with the Spartan, and had been given aid by Jaina herself, who they knew was trusted by the leaders of the Horde. While they knew that Thrall had a rule to allow visitors to enter Orgrimmar under his protection, there was no telling if there were any members of the Horde who might decide to ignore the rule placed on them by their Warchief.

Sure enough, the fears of the Night Elves and the Master Chief concerning the possibility of some member of the Horde ignoring the rule of Thrall came true as soon as they arrived in the lands of the Horde came true as a number of Orc warriors stopped and looked at them with surprise and anger. Kaelyn was quick to recognize the tabards that they had on them as their symbol was of one of the most reviled clans of the Orcs known to her people.

"Warsong Orcs!"

John looked at the Orcs and saw that the tabard they had on them had a laughing Orc face with a wide number of teeth on them and the color was black. He could tell quickly that the Orcs were not the least bit pleased by the fact that Night Elves were in their lands as the group quickly moved away from the direction they had been heading and made their way to the Night Elves. He could already see from their posture that they were more than ready to attack if given the chance and he knew that he had to stop them before things came to a point where violence was unavoidable. That was odd feeling for a war veteran for him, but he didn't have time to debate it as he had to focus on w3hat he needed to do.

The lead Orc, a tall one who seemed to be the leader of this bunch brandished a wicked looking axe and also a shield with a Orc skull on it and spikes with both made from metal and were covered blood red stripes. The leader was followed by several more of his fellows while there were a small trio of females with them as well, all three female Orcs looking at the Night Elves, the Spartan and Sandra's pet wolf with a dark fire in their eyes.

The lead Orc finally spoke out as he was now in hearing range of the Night Elves, the wolf, and the Spartan as he had not spoken before he was close enough to the group.

"You violet skinned witches have no right to be here!"

The lead Orc was about to charge when the Night Elves began to ready their bows while Jarrod readied his own magic. That was enough to make the other Warsong Orcs make their own moves as they brandished their own weapons and moved even faster towards the Night Elves. But just as they were about to get closer and attack the Night Elves who were ready to defend themselves, the Spartan quickly moved before the Night Elves and stood before the Orcs and spoke in a clear voice of authority, he knew that it might not work, but it might help to stop things before everything got right out of hand.

"Calm down here, we are not the enemy."

That worked well enough as the Warsong Orcs stopped in their tracks but that hardly meant that their hostility had faded as they were more than willing to aim their weapons menacingly at the Spartan. The lead Orc spoke in a very militant and anger filled tone.

"Who are you stranger and why do you walk with their Night Elf witches who dare to walk in the lands of the Horde? Answer us now or we will make sure that they will be tossed out of Orgrimmar in short order along with you as well!"

Kaelyn however was quick to speak, despite the fact that all common senses told her that she should not antagonize the Orcs before her.

"I would like to see you try!"

"Oh but I will!"

"Enough!"

The shout was enough to stop the exchange as the groups turned to see an elderly Orc Shaman walking over towards them. The Spartan quickly looked at the new comer and wondered just what was going to happen this time. He hoped that this new comer was not going to suddenly cast spells on them for some reason or another that would cause this situation to be more explosive than it had to be.

The elderly Shaman then looked at the assembled groups and spoke in a very gruff voice.

"Lower your weapons, members of Warsong, have you forgotten the rules placed by the Warchief concerning visitors to our lands?"

The lead Orc snorted a bit and replied to the Shaman.

"I have not forgotten old one….but these Night Elves have killed many of my clansmen, I cannot abide the fact that they are here in out lands! They do not belong here!"

"I understand your anger Garnahk of the Warsong as it is justified, but we cannot attack them unless under the direct order of the Warchief himself or have committed any crime in our lands that warrant them being exiled or worse. They have just recently arrived here and as far as I have seen, they have not harmed any of our people."

Garnahk growled at he looked at the Night Elves and spoke clearly.

"That may be Shaman, but that certainly does not mean that they would not try in some fashion to harm our people, I hope that the Warchief sends them far away from here. If not…"

The Shaman spoke with a deeper tone, a tone that told the Spartan that he was not in the mood for this situation to go even further than it has to.

"You will NOT harm them Garnahk and that is final! Leave them be, now!"

The younger Orc looked at the Shaman and nodded, but not before giving the Night Elves, and even the Spartan a hate filled glare and spoke.

"You are safe only because of the laws of the Warchief…break them…and I will gladly throw you all out."

With that, Garnahk and his cohorts left, but not before the rest of the group glared at the Spartan and his Night Elf companions, the Blood Elves looked on as they themselves were a bit tense at what was happening before them, Erin was happy that the Spartan had not been attacked at all while Janna was relieved that she didn't have to raise her weapons in Orgrimmar of all places while Tannis felt himself become more relaxed. It was then that the gates opened and out came a large number of Orcs, one of them riding on a massive wolf and carrying a large blade.

Cortana whistled at the sight and spoke to John in a private conversation.

"Now that is one seriously large wolf…I wonder what the heck do the Orcs feed them for them to get to that size?"

"Let's hope that we don't find out the hard way then."

The elderly Shaman turned and then gave a toothy smile to the group before him, startling the Spartan as well as the Night Elves as he spoke.

"Forgive the young one's actions strangers, as justified as his anger is, breaking the rules of the Warchief is a far greater crime."

Kaelyn looked at the Orc Shaman with some confusion as to why this Shaman would willingly do this. Granted the reason could be only that he was following the rules of the Warchief, but still, she was curious as to why he would do that.

"Why would you willingly defend us if we have been killing his fellow clansmen?"

"I am an old Orc, Night Elf…in fact, I have seen more bloodshed than I care to remember in my life time. I will still fight and serve the Horde, but I will do so only to ensure the survival of my kindred. I know full well why your people kill us Orcs, even though we have already stated time and time again that it was Fel Orcs that slew your beloved Cenarius, just as Garnahk has the right to seek revenge for his slain kin, so do you and your kin. Personally I see it as only the continuation of a cycle of hatred, something I have had quite enough in my days, though I could be rambling in more ways than one. But I guess another reason is that I owe you a debt of honor….after all, you saved my son, his mate, and my grandchildren."

The group looked at the Shaman as he was soon joined by Nashkar and his family as the Shaman turned to face his son and spoke to him.

"So these are the ones who saved your life Nashkar?"

"Yes father, they save our lives when we were taken by the Twilight's Hammer."

The Shaman growled a bit and replied.

"I never had much love or tolerance for those nihilistic traitors and their ilk; it is good that they now face the Ancestors in judgment for their many bloody crimes. Now then I will take my leave, there is no doubt that you have been expected by the Warchief for Nazgrel himself to come out with the Kor'kron Guard at his command. If you and your companions will agree to that Spartan, I wish to offer the warmth and shelter of my family's own residence in the Valley of Wisdom, if you will give me the honor of welcoming you here in Orgrimmar."

John nodded and replied.

"I will keep that in mind."

As Tarkell left with his family, Nazgrel finally arrived and looked the Spartan over as well as the three Night elves, he looked at the Spartan hard and he could already see that this was no ordinary person, he was human sized and shaped, that much was obvious, but even while on his Wolf Mount, the Orc could tell that this human in armor was tall, while he had met some humans who were of slightly unusual height, this one was different. Not only the that, there was the armor and weapons he carried as well, these were not the same as those carried by the Alliance in the mind of the Orc, but he placed that aside for now as he spoke.

"Greetings, I am Nazgrel, chief of Security here in Orgrimmar, The Warchief has expected you, though not in this fashion, he dispatched me and members of the Kor'kron Guard to accompany you and your group to his location in Gromash Stronghold, you're Blood Elf companions will need not be escorted since they are members of the Horde, you and your…Night Elf companions on the other hand will not get a very warm reception here if you decided to force your way in the old fashioned way. Now then, I suggest that you follow us and don't lag behind, my Guardsmen and I will not harm you nor ensure that you will come to harm, but if you leave our protection, then you're going to be in for some rough treatment, not fatal at least, but rough either way, any questions?"

The Spartan shook his head and despite some initial reluctance, Jarrod, Sandra, and Kaelyn nodded as well, much to Nazgrel's satisfaction, he had been worried that the group would not take the offer he had given them. But since they did, it saved him time and kept things cool. Maybe not ALL of the Night Elves were too bad.

"All right then, all of you will now have to follow me and let's see if we can get you all to the Warchief in one piece eh?"

…

As they moved through Orgrimmar, the Night Elves looked about and while they naturally had a level of dislike for the look of the capital city of the Horde, there was no denying that it was an impressive city either way. They preferred the natural beauty and tranquil look of Darnassus but they could see that there was some grace in the way the Orcs built their city. There was also the fact that despite it's drab and ugly look, it had a very intimidating look about it as well as it being quite defensible. The structures were well designed for the harsh conditions of the lands that the Orcs chose as their new home and also would be hard to attack due to it's very strong construction, something that won a level of reluctant respect from the Night Elves as they continued to move through the roads of the city.

The same could be said for both John and Cortana as they scanned every part of Orgrimmar both on the ground and from the satellite overhead that they had guided over Orgrimmar secretly in order to have a bird's eye view of the city itself. The visual data he got was more than helpful in getting a good idea of the city that would support the view on the ground for them as they looked at the city, noting the pathways, the possible defensive areas, the locations where a defense could be mounted as well as needed to be overcome should this city bet attacked. The Spartan and the A.I also focused on determining the exact routes of the patrolling guards as well as their numbers, exact composition, weapons, and more besides. They also determined that each citizen of Orgrimmar was well armed, no doubt in any event of attack on their capital. All in all, they were doing the very same thing that they had done when in Stormwind as well and from what they had been able to see, this place was well defended and fortified, any attack here was possible, but very costly.

All the while, the Horde races that called this city home looked at the group being escorted by the Kor'kron Guard, the Spartan could hear them talking in Orcish and while Cortana had made her first translation program for the language of the Orcs, it was still incomplete so their words were lost to the Spartan, but the looks they gave was more than enough to tell him that they were not happy for this.

Cortana then spoke to the Spartan in private as she had compiled the visual data that

"I have to give the Horde credit, they certainly know what they needed in order to defend themselves if they are ever attacked. They might not have the same prowess of the Alliance engineers and craftsmen when they made the city of Stormwind but they are hardly lacking in building skills. The city of the Orcs however is better suited for the environment they happen to call home. They certainly have good defensive abilities in this city, and while I'm not a big fan of their architecture, it's not too bad…it's just like those movies they make about the past."

"You find that amusing?"

"A little bit…still, let's not take any risks just yet Chief, they might not be able to hear us talking to one another, but I have no doubt in my mind that they might get curious why you've been looking around and saying nothing at all. Speaking of which, you've just gained the attention of one such person."

John noted that Cortana had a point when one of the male Orcs wearing the marks of the Kor'kron Guard spoke seriously to him.

"Why have you been silent this entire time strange one?"

The Spartan looked at the male Orc as she stared at him with a curious eye, unlike the rest of his kin, John noted that he carried a two handed sword instead of the axe that most of her kin wielded. He wore armor that seemed to be a balance of both protection with speed, no doubt favoring agility over raw defensive power. He wore only a small band of metal on a leather bind with a white wolf made of metal there. The Spartan was no expert in determining the exact age of this Orc, but judging by the lack of white or grey hair anywhere on his form, this Orc was still in the age range of a young man or a teen, though he doubted that for the moment.

Harg Steelfang of the Frostwolves looked at the human sized being that had been given the Warchief's permission to enter their city. While he was wary of the Night Elves and this being, he was not as hate filled as the rest of his Orc kin. He had taken part of the Third War at a young age, killing his first foe while he was barely out of his youth in defense of his family. His skills as a fighter won him respect and honor and he eventually joined the Kor'kron Guard. His rather, unorthodox views towards the other races had gained him some rather unwanted attention from his more, traditional minded kin, but had won him respect from Varok and Dranosh.

He had always shown a curious and patient attitude when dealing with other races, but most notably to the races that made up the Alliance. Unlike most of his brethren who had grown to have hatred and anger towards most of the Alliance races, he was keener to learn all that he could and understand the ways of his race's foes; he was very much in like mind to the Warchief though he hardly had friends from the Alliance as Thrall did. He fought with them when he needed to, but he hardly took joy in it, only doing so to defend his people.

His father Eltran Steelfang warned him that revealing his attitudes towards the races of the Alliance was not a wise idea, yet never forced him to change his ways, only hide them. The lesson was not easy to remember as his open admiration for the Alliance had been more than enough to get him in trouble with more than just his superiors who disliked the Alliance. He countered that it was merely to show respect to them as foes, and it worked until his actions reached the ears of both Varok and Dranosh and he was brought before them. He was worried at what they would do to him but he was surprised that they merely told him to work harder in concealing his feelings and thoughts so he wouldn't get in too much trouble.

He waited for the Spartan to respond and he was not disappointed as the Spartan spoke once more.

"Just looking over the city."

"Are you admiring it or merely studying it for any weak points?"

The Spartan looked at the Orc who seemed to be a lot more perceptive than most who were focused on their duties and not caring for the conversation between him and their brother. He decided to play along as he suspected that this Orc was…trustworthy, he never knew why he thought that, but it was a gut feeling, and if there was one thing Mendez taught him, it was to go with his gut when all else failed, it would surprise him."

"Maybe both."

The Orc laughed at that and replied.

"Hah! I see, well, I hope you keep in mind that you and your companions are not exactly in friendly territory. But don't worry, as long as you don't do anything that breaks the laws of the Horde, you'll be in good hands, it's up to you and your friends if you do something to turn those hands into fists."

The Spartan would have replied to that but the option was no longer possible as they soon arrived to a massive building that seemed to be the main location where they would find the Warchief Thrall, he looked about and it seemed simple, but looks can be deceiving, the fact that there were a number of Kor'kron Guard around the building and manning it's defenses as well as the patrols around it told him that this was the residence of the Warchief, and considering the fact that Thrall was a Shaman himself according to the sources, this would be the heart of where the Horde's Orc Shamans trained.

Nazgrel then moved them towards the door and got off his Wolf mount and guided them to the doors and opened them, and stepping aside as he spoke to them.

"Step in, the Warchief and the rest of the Horde leaders as well as Jaina Proudmoore await you."

…

In Gromash Hold…

The Spartan walked through the building, looking at the way the building's interior was made. Unlike the way the palace of Stormwind and Darnassus was made, the place was functional and had little to no decorations apart from the Orcish runes, furs and hides of animals as well as a collection of weapon racks that were no doubt in easy reach for the Kor'kron Guards who were stationed in the Hold itself.

He looked on while Kaelyn, Jarrod and Sandra as well as White Claw and saw that they were also looking at the halls of the stronghold as well, the same could be said for Janna, Tannis, and Erin herself as they seemed to be taking into the sights though he could see that they were not very happy with the looks of the hall, no doubt due to their culture and lifestyle and that would also apply to their people's architecture . It was then that the Spartan spotted the leaders of the Horde, he quickly decided to see just who they were and commit them to memory.

The first was obviously Thrall himself and the one with the red skin was no doubt Garrosh Hellscream as was described by Nashkar and his family, and one he had to avoid. He could see that Garrosh was no pushover and carried a pair of axes in battle as well as ornate but no doubt highly functional armor. Thrall wielded a powerful looking hammer with a head made of solid granite that seemed to radiate magic of some sort, just as Thrall did as John used the magical scanning ability of his MJOLNIR. The armor that Thrall wore seemed to be black with golden lining and was impressive looking from where he stood.

The next leader was a massive Tauren who looked old and getting in on the years. Nevertheless the Tauren looked to be very strong despite it's age as it carried itself well and carried a massive halberd in one hand. The Tauren looked at him and his companions patiently while holding his weapon without showing hostility. The Spartan was quick to guess that this Tauren was no doubt Cairne Bloodhoof, leader of the Tauren as a whole and the smaller Tauren who was with him must be his son Baine Bloodhoof. The Tauren seemed to be all right but the Spartan decided to wait for a better time to be sure as he also scanned the two and determined that they had considerable power of magic in them, though of a different nature.

The next was the Troll Vol'jin, the Spartan was quick to recognize him and considering the adornments he had on, he was no doubt the chosen leader of the Darkspear Tribe of Trolls as was described to him by Ruskhain and his fellow Trolls. The Witch Doctor and Shadow Hunter bristled with power that was no doubt Voodoo magic as the Spartan could see for the moment as he scanned the Troll. He also scanned the weapon Vol'jin carried and was very much interested on how a Troll could carry such an odd but lethal looking weapon with ease.

The next to his surprise was an elven woman but had glowing red eyes that seemed to radiate evil, or something like that as he didn't like the way she was looking at him. She carried a very elegant looking bow with metal that served to increase tension in the weapon and no doubt was enchanted to increase it's power and enchant the arrows it fired. He looked to see that she had the lithe and curvaceous form of any female Elf and wore it all rather well. However unlike The Blood Elves he knew and his fellow Night Elf companions who were female…this woman's skin tone was dark purple…almost like that of a corpse with blood still in it. Her hair had lost any coloration and was bone white as well. And her armor had skulls on it and seemed to be designed to frighten her foes. One thing was for certain, he didn't like the way this woman looked. That was further reinforced when he scanned her and to his surprise and that of Cortana, she had no life signs…

"An Undead Elf Ranger?"

The A.I replied to that easily enough after scanning the dead elven woman who was a leader in the Horde.

"Now that is plain creepy…she must be Sylvanas Windrunner, the leader of the Forsaken. Keep your eyes open around her John, she seems….wrong somehow, apart from being undead and all. I don't like the way she looks."

"Now you tell me."

John moved to look at the last leader and this one was a male elf, and from the glow of green in his eyes was no doubt Lor'themar Thereon , the leader of the Blood Elves and no doubt the commanding officer of all three of his Blood Elf companions, judging by the way all three of them bowed before him. The Blood Elf leader wore ornate crimson plate-mail with black chain mail underneath as well, and carried what appeared to be some form of Elven long-sword to his side.

All in all, the Spartan now finally met the full leaders of the Horde and one thing was certain, this day was not going to be boring in the least.

Thrall then moved over to the Spartan, surprised that the being seemed very calm and composed, showing no fear at all as he moved to him. The Shaman leader of the Horde sensed power in this man in armor, power that had nothing to do with magic of any sort. He placed that aside and spoke to the Spartan in Common.

"Greetings to you Spartan, I have heard a good deal about you and your exploits from Jaina herself, and I have to give you my thanks for freeing a number of Horde members from captivity."

John nodded and replied in crisp military fashion.

"It was not a problem Warchief Thrall."

The Warchief chuckled a little at that.

(A military man through and through, Jaina was right about that regard.)

"I see, regardless you still have my thanks as Warchief of the Horde for your selfless actions in freeing our kindred. Now then, while you were on you're way here to Gromash Hold, we were talking a bit about your achievements ever since coming here to the land of Kalimdor. She also mentioned your exploits in facing the dangers found in the lands of the Alliance, namely the Defias who you seemed to have faced before hand, I must admit, they are somewhat interesting to hear."

That was when Garrosh decided to get involved.

"Thrall, I wish to speak for a moment."

The Shaman looked at the son of his old mentor and friend and wondered just what was cooking in that mind of his.

"What is it Garrosh?"

The son of Hellscream looked at the Spartan with a serious and doubtful eye. He had a feeling that the human before him was relying on some form of magic or another in that armor he was wearing and therefore was not as strong or as powerful as Jaina had told them before. He could see that this being had an aura around him, the kind one had as a warrior. But that was something that the young warrior wanted, he wanted to see if this human really was a warrior, or was this being merely some weak human relying on magical enchantments or a demon disguised as human to fool them into lowering their guard. There was only one way to find out, and it was a way that suited the young Hellscream just fine.

"I want to challenge this human in a duel of honor there in the Valley of Strength before the rest of the Horde."

Thrall looked at Garrosh and spoke seriously to him.

"What reason could you have for issuing a challenge to him Garrosh?"

Garrosh smiled and replied.

"I wish to see if he was truly able to slay all of those Defias by himself and also to see if he truly is as capable as he is said to be your Alliance ally Jaina, or is he somehow using powerful magic to conceal his weaknesses, or worse….is he a demon in disguise and had somehow dulled the senses of us all in the same way that minor demon did long ago? And even if he is not a demon, I still want to see if this Spartan can truly match up to the might of a true member of the Horde without his armor and his weapons, relying only on his own strength. What say you Spartan?"

Thrall wished that this never happened, Garrosh had always been hot tempered as well as eager to rush into battle at the best chance to do so, just like his father Grom did. While he had great respect and trust in Grom, he always worried that the blood lust he had would be a danger, and it was when he took in the Blood of Mannaroth again. Thankfully in his final moments, Grom changed and redeemed not just himself but all of his fellow Orcs in freeing them from the curse of Mannaroth. Garrosh might not have drunk from the fountain, but the blood lust was there in a very different form due to his aggressive behavior and attitude towards the humans and the Alliance in general.

Besides, stating that this Spartan was actually a demon in disguise was a bit valid but hardly something that he himself would agree with. He trusted Jaina and knew that she would never willingly aid a demon in infiltrating the lands of his people as well as her own so he was not in the mood to think such things. He turned and looked at the Spartan who seemed silent, but that silence lasted for only a moment or so and then he spoke back.

"I accept your challenge."

Garrosh grinned, this was what he hoped for, once this human was stripped of his armor and weapons, he was going to see if this human was truly powerful to be worthy of his respect and that of the Horde. Or was he like the rest of the humans that he had grown to despise of the years, this was going to be a good day.

"Very well then human, we shall see each other in the field of honor and before the Horde and the Clans, we shall see if you truly are a warrior worthy of respect from the Horde!"

With that, Garrosh left and when he did, Thrall spoke to the Spartan.

"Are you sure you wish to do this? I do not doubt your abilities as I trust Jaina well to know that she speaks truth in many matters of great importance. You do appear as skilled as she said you to be, but to accept this challenge is something that I didn't expect."

John replied to that.

"I have my reasons, but I can say that it's better I get it over and done with before more rumors fly about concerning me. I hardly care for such things but if it will help speed up my case here with the Horde I might as well do it…besides."

"Besides?"

"I am not helpless without my armor or weapons Warchief, they are but tools and extensions of what I can do on my own, and so you might say that I am the weapon, not the other way around."

With that, the Spartan moved away as Thrall then spoke to the Kor'kron Guard to guide the Spartan to the dueling ring. There was no doubt that this day was about to get very interesting for everyone here in Orgrimmar. Thrall sighed a bit and listened to the Spirits, hoping that they were all right with this matter. If they were, then so be it.

As for the other Horde leaders, they decided to see what the results were of this sudden event, but for Sylvanas and Lor'themar, they had a different plan of their own, for the former, she was curious to see if this Spartan did live up to what her other spies in the lands of the Alliance had told her, while the Blood Elf turned to look at the companions of the Spartan that were of his kindred. There was a lot that he needed to know about this Spartan which may prove to be very useful in the near future.

As for John, he was getting himself ready for this fight before him, and as much as he didn't want to show it, he was rather looking forward to it. He had not missed the way Garrosh looked at him, and the meaning of the Orc's words towards him. He normally would have cared less if people believed in his actions or not, but after understanding more of Horde culture, namely the Orcs, he knew that only a show of his skills would silence any critics towards him and at least give him some much needed room and space to operate while here in Orgrimmar. If he showed that he was willing to play by their rules, then they had no reason to talk behind his back and give him any more trouble. It might even open avenues of information that could prove useful in the long run.

Cortana knew what was going through her friend's mind and spoke to him.

"Careful not to get too overconfident John, this is a serious matter after all."

"I'll be fine Cortana."

"I know…good luck there big guy."

As for his Night Elf companions, Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod, accompanied by White Claw were now looking at their Spartan ally with some measure of worry. They knew how serious this fight was, and they could only hope that the Spartan was going to make it out all right. Unknown to them a certain blonde female human Archmage thought in the same lines they did as she walked with them to the arena where the duel was no doubt going to be held.

Soon, the rumors of the battle between Garrosh of Warsong and the human being who was called a Spartan was all over Orgrimmar and already this had gotten the attention of the Horde, namely the clan that Garrosh was part of.

The people of the city gathered soon to see this fight, and despite the rules against such things, bets were already being made on the soon to happen outcome of the fight.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

All right, another chapter is out and now in the second part of this arc we have the Master Chief taking up the challenge being placed before him by Garrosh who is eager to see just what sort of warrior this Spartan really is. You can bet the results will be more than one expected, that much will be fairly obvious to all readers. But that certainly does not mean that we're not going to have a fun time thinking it all through.

Now for some explanations, I forgot to do the part were King Varian is told the Spartan's history and records and for that I have to apologize since I've been rather busy with a lot of things, so that particular moment in the story kind of slipped my mind. Not to mention the fact that I really need to get some more decent sleep since I've been really busy for the time being. I'll get to work on that in the later part of the arc as we will have the Chief go to Ironforge via Tram from Stormwind to see the Dwarven capital as well. And you can bet that as soon as the Chief gets there, things are going to get rather interesting.

On another topic, I know that I am going to get some flak for what I had written there in the conversation between Kaelyn and Sandra, but I have been busy gathering what official information I could and I have encountered the information that Night Elves do not marry traditionally but take companions for life. Now that is recognized in official Warcraft lore though like anything that can susceptible to change with the expanding storyline of WoW, but since it hasn't been changed so far, that means I can work with that.

Now I will admit that I might be twisting the information a bit, but that will work well so far in the way I want the story to go at this moment. And before I get reviews saying that it's not possible that Night Elves do that sort of thing when it came to being with those of the opposite gender, you can check the information for yourselves if you really want to.

…

Okay, Marah is not the official name used by Aegwynn in hiding her identity as Jaina's adviser but since there's no mention of her cover name and I have no access to the Cycle of Hatred Book to get more in depth data, that name will have to do for the time being.

…

On the topic of Truesilver, Mithril and the like, I will be using them in the next story soon enough so don't worry about those details too much. They will come in their own time and will play their own roles as well.

Now on a serious note, I was previously asked if I could make an alternate version of this crossover where John does get only one female partner and he is joined by members of the UNSC and even some of the Covenant. Now that is kind of hard to imagine and will take a heck of a lot of elbow grease and extra grey matter for me to pull off honestly. And with all the projects I have here in writing and issues in real life, I might not be able to do that just yet.

Anyway, that can wait for a better time as we get down to the fighting bits in the next chapter between John and Garrosh!

And no, I will not make Garrosh a complete bad guy here, just make him too overzealous and too full of pride in the 'Might of the Horde' thing. He's not all that bad to me at least, but he is too much of a hothead and also is too aggressive as well. While that is good for leadership in battle if that was tempered with tactical skill and patience, it is not good as a whole in leading one's people.

…

By the way, I had recently defrosted an old idea I had in the fan fiction freezer in my brain. This is similar to my first attempt as making a Warcraft story with original characters. Only in this case, we have a band of Marines along with all the key personnel and players as well as a large floating warship as a base of operations which is similar to the Master Chief and Cortana landing on Azeroth in the Dawn though in this case, the humans in question land in an intact but damaged ship in need of some serious repairs, resupply and refueling. Here a scene and it does have the Night Elves in it, this scene was in my head for a long time so no sense not getting it out.

Scene:

"Wow…now those are some very hot women."

The Marine Sniper commented as he and his fellow Marines found themselves looking at a bunch of violet skinned females in clothing that would have passed for beach had it not been covered in metal armor and they were carrying longbows of some sort. They had recently fought off those marauding band of goat men with some weird looking weapons when the ladies showed up. Despite the purple skin tone, the odd long ears, and the glowing eyes bit, he and his fellow Marines were enjoying the sight before them.

"Maybe being on this planet isn't so bad if the natives look this nice."

However, that idea was quickly squashed as the commanding officer of his group and the ship that they were on before walked up to him and quickly whacked him on the back of the head. With him and his fellow Marines wearing Powered Combat Hard-suits, the was not that bad, but the Sniper turned and reacted to the blow given to him.

"Ow! What the heck was that for Captain?"

The Captain replied seriously.

"It should be fairly obvious Marine, we have a job to do and that job is to get back to the ship and rally up with the rest of the force and find out just where the heck we landed in. There's no mention of us taking the time to sit back, relax and spend time ogling the female natives of this planet no matter how hot looking and exotic they are!"

The officer then looked at the Marine Fire team and finished his speech.

"So for all of you, roll up your tongues, keeps your eyes off the said female natives and on the mission, and make damn sure that you all keep your pants on! Now move out, that ship isn't going to fix itself. And we're damn sure not going to get answers on where the bloody hell we happen to have landed in staying here, let's move it out Marines!"

"Yes sir!

As the Marines moved out, the leader of the Sentinels who like her fellows had heard the whole thing looked her comrades with the same look of confusion.

Who were these humans?

…

There…that's done, not too shabby if I do say so myself. I don't plan on using this just yet…maybe at a much later date but not right now.

Bye!


	15. Chapter 15

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to WoW or Halo period.

Chapter 9

Part 2

Duel…

( ): Thoughts

…

Author's Notes:

I had recently taken a good look at the map of Orgrimmar and determined that I was kind of wrong in what I made in the next chapter, namely concerning just where in the city the fight takes place. And it is in the Valley of Honor as this is where the Arena is supposed to be. So this way, I hope that you readers are not suddenly surprised by the fact that the whole situation is now taking place in the Ring of Valor in the Valley of Honor instead of the Valley of Strength.

Sorry for the possible mix up in the previous chapter so I hope that this change should correct it.

Okay on with the show!

…

In Orgrimmar…

The city was now soon rife with the reports that a duel was t be waged in the Valley of Strength and it was not long that a vast number of the Horde citizenry were making their way to the said location. They wondered who would be willing to fight the leader of the Warsong Clan of all people, and when the rumors came out that it was going to be a human, they were quick to bet that this fight was not going to last very long. Apart from many of the veterans and Thrall himself, Garrosh was one of the strongest fighters there. And since this was a duel of honor, it was to be held in the gladiatorial Ring that was known to all as the Ring of Valor.

It was there that the battle was to be fought between Garrosh and this human who wanted to fight him in the duel of honor. As the people walked in, they were soon filling up the arena spectator area and were soon eager to see just what was going to happen in this duel of Honor, Orc, Tauren, Troll, and Undead came in to the place to witness just what was going to transpire here in the arena. Food had been brought in as well as ale and more aplenty. Along with that were the bets that were going to happen. Though normally frowned upon by the Warchief, bets were usually taken in the results of matches on the side, though these were made in honor as there were rules forbidding the use of force when one party lost their bets to another.

…

As soon as they got into the arena, John and the others were quickly taken to ready rooms and there in the room was a bed, a cabinet as well as a washing basin with clean water and a clean rag to wipe with, table, and chairs as well. The place was functional and the floor was covered in furs and leathers. The walls were simple, clean and well maintained, though there Orcish runes there as well.

John wasted no time and quickly began to focus himself on the task of removing his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor in the same fashion that he had done previously to it when he needed to affect repairs with Cortana's help. But just as he had removed his helmet, the leaders of the Horde arrived in the room along with Jaina herself, and for the first time, the Horde leaders got a good look at the Spartan himself without his helmet and the polarized visor in their way.

Thrall looked at the Spartan and saw that his face seemed to be rather well defined and what one Human woman would easily describe as attractive, judging from the way his female companions seemed to be smiling to themselves. However, looks alone were not going to be enough in the mind of the warrior chieftain, he wanted to see just what else this Spartan was capable of doing. He had to give the man respect as he seemed to be intent on fighting Garrosh for showing such a level of calm and focus. Now he was very curious to see just what this human could really do in battle.

Cairne looked at the Spartan and could seen a great deal of power, unlike the headstrong Garrosh, the elderly Chieftain could see that there was a hidden amount of power and strength in this human. He was now very much interested to see just what was going to be the result of the soon to come battle between Garrosh and the Spartan. The same could be said for Baine though the younger Tauren naturally didn't see the Spartan the way his father did. All he could see was that this human was different, and not just in terms of appearance.

Sylvanas looked at the human and despite her dislike for humans and most if not all living beings in general, she had to admit that he was certainly the attractive sort, which was fairly obvious to the Banshee Queen as she could see the looks of appreciation being directed at the Spartan by the female members of the group he no doubt worked with, and to her amusement, Jaina herself was also looking. She would have been as well in a certain level if she was still alive and breathing. But her heart no longer was a living thing, so she was not that interested in men anymore… besides, she learned centuries ago that looks were not everything, so she wanted to see if the human was more than just looks and fancy weaponry.

Vol'jin looked the human over and began to wonder just what was this man capable of in battle as he was very curious as to what the outcome of this battle was going to be.

Lor'themar himself could see just what was making Erin, and Janna look at the human with a good measure of interest as well as the two female Night Elves who were no doubt allies of this human. He wondered just what this man was capable of as he sensed that there was a lot more to this man than just mere looks.

This did not last long as Thrall spoke to the Master Chief.

"Spartan, as it was Garrosh who challenged you to this duel, he has many advantages, but I will permit you to set some terms of your own to be fair to you as well. While you are not a member of either the Horde or the Alliance, due to you're neutrality, you will be given some rules of your own. Limited they might be at this moment due to your current standing, but you will have them either way."

John thought it over and was quick to come up with a plan that would not only work to proving that he was more than just relying on his weapons and Armor.

"I wish to have my Armor and weapons, as well as myself scanned by any skilled Shaman or you yourself to show that there is no magic in either me or my equipment, that way, Garrosh and everyone else will know that I do not have any magic in me."

The other leaders thought about it and soon gave their consent while the Night Elves merely smiled while Erin smirked widely at this though her companions were confused by that. Thrall nodded to that as he had an idea as to what the Spartan planned to accomplish.

"Very well, once you are done, I will have several Tauren carry the table where your armor shall be, once out in the Arena, you will undergo a Purging Ritual and so will your Armor and weapons, this will show that your equipment has no magical enchantments in them and neither do you."

Lor'themar then turned to Erin and her companions as he spoke with authority.

"I'll be speaking with you three before the match begins, there's a large amount of questions that I need answered today."

The three nodded and everything went underway as the Horde Leaders moved out of the room, leaving only John, Kaelyn, Sandra and Jarrod in the room, Jarrod then decided to leave the room to serve as the messenger to Thrall that John was ready for what was to come. With that out of the way, both Kaelyn and Sandra as well as White Claw were now the security in the room as they watched over the place. John briefly placed back on his helmet and had a quick conversation with Cortana.

"Do you think that the spell Thrall might use or anyone of his Shamans might use can affect the MJOLNIR in some fashion Cortana?"

"Possible, but the systems have to be online to be affected at all. However I rather have my doubts on the whole thing as the MJOLNIR has been hardened for nuclear, biological, EMP, and chemical situations. Don't worry about me either; the slot where I happen to be in is heavily shielded so I'll be all right."

John nodded and quickly went to work as he once more removed his helmet and began the process of removing his armor, much to the happiness of both the Night Elves though they focused on making sure that he was not suddenly disturbed by anyone while he was removing his Armor. It didn't take too long as John was able to remove the armor components of his MJOLNIR and place them on the rather strong and well built table. That was soon followed by his body suit and his weapons as the MJOLNIR was now offline and on the table.

He was now only in a pair of boots as well as his usual military issue pants. Once that was done, he called Jarrod in and as soon as the Druid saw the Spartan like that he quickly made his way to find Thrall. It was a while but then Thrall appeared along with an escort of four Tauren as well as Erin, Janna, and Tannis who no doubt had submitted their reports to the leader of their people and while the Warchief widened his eyes at how pale the Spartan was, which was odd for a human, he placed that out of his mind and gave instructions to the Tauren to left the hard wood table that had the Spartan's gear and weapons there.

The Tauren wasted no time and took the weapons and armor with them on the table and soon the group moved out with Thrall in the lead while John was escorted by his Night Elf companions as well as the Blood Elves.  
…

In the Arena Grounds…

As soon as they were in the arena itself, John quickly began to scan the area, figuring the exact design and layout of the complex purely out of reflex. The arena was similar to a foot ball stadium in size though in this case, there were four tall granite pillars that were in the ring in a rectangular pattern. The Tauren who were there moved away after placing the table down in the middle of the ring and it was not long before Garrosh arrived and he was still wearing his Armor and carrying his axes as well. The younger Orc smiled as he looked to see that the Spartan had taken off his Armor and was not wearing any form of protection.

The two of them entered the ring as the Tauren were nearby and two of them carried a table loaded with a variety of weapons for the Spartan to use in the duel to come.

John looked at the weapons there available to him and saw that while there were some good weapons, he decided to try using something that not many of the Orcs would use in battle, and was a special way to prove that he was not someone to be messed around with. He took a good look at the weapons and soon spotted a four foot long staff made from very strong hard wood

Garrosh grinned as he looked at the weapon the Master Chief carried; it was a simple hard wood staff and was wrapped in leather on both ends. He wondered what the reason was that the Spartan chose such a weapon out of all the other weapons offered to him as t6he staff was not the most used weapon. But he was going to follow through with his plan to test this human to his limits, and defeat him to prove that the might of a true member of the Horde was more than enough to defeat someone like him. He however couldn't help but taunt the Spartan as the two of them were now before one another.

"You would choose this over all the other weapons here? You have a very strange way of fighting human. That or you're thinking that I am a simple fool, I am not and soon you will know the power of a member of the Horde!"

John said nothing utterly focused on the match before him and held his staff gingerly and as soon as he felt he was ready, he got into position as Thrall spoke to them and the audience.

"This is a battle of honor by the rules of the Horde, the only way this ends is if one of the fighters yields or is no longer able to fight. To follow the traditions of honorable combat, we shall prove that there is no use of magic here in the battle between Garrosh Hellscream of the Warsong Clan and the Spartan himself."

Thrall walked over and began to cast the spell known as Purge on the Armor and weapons of the Spartan to prove that there was no magic in them. The spell was flowing on the MJOLNIR Mark VI would remove any magical power and was also useful in breaking the magical bonds that helped a summoned being remained in the living world. The Warchief was able to see that the Armor that the human wore had no magic.

He then did the same process on the Spartan himself and it was shown that the spell had not detected any form of magic there on the Spartan and that was seen buy everyone in the arena. Thrall smiled at this and moved back as he moved back to the area where he and the others were going to be watching.

As soon as Thrall arrived in with the others leader, the audience were now ready to see just what this human was capable of doing, as the crowds were speaking, they were silent raised the small ceremonial hammer and spoke out in full authority.

"Let it be known that the Spirits have spoken, the human known as the Spartan has been determined to be clean of any dishonorable magic and is fighting Garrosh with only his natural power and ability and is not being supported by his Night Elf Druid companion in any possible fashion, and let it be known that this is a duel of honor and as such, interference is not to be tolerated by anyone here in the arena. Now…this duel…"

Thrall then hit the nearby metal gong and the ringing sound was heard all over the area just as he shouted out.

"SHALL COMMENCE!"

…

In the ring…

John relaxed himself and began to focus himself in locating a weak point in Garrosh's actions and movements, he did so while moving his staff in a calm circular pattern before him as well as moving the weapon from hand to hand while watching Garrosh as the Orc looked back at him, axes crossed and he was ready to attack. The Spartan was not bothered and began to ready his own counter attacks in his mind.

The Spartan didn't have to wait for too long as Garrosh attacked.

(This human shall fall!)

The Orc roared and the audience roared as well, already they had no doubt that Garrosh would be stronger than this human before him. And already the money was changing hands as well as the words in Orcish on the easiest to predict outcome in the history of the arena. However, they were all going to be in for a very big surprise. As Garrosh closed the gap and attacked with one of his weapons, namely the axe in his left hand, the Spartan quickly closed in and moved the staff right into the shaft of the weapon, stopping it in the half swing. Before Garrosh could react, the Spartan moved and before he could react was right behind him with lightning speed and quickly moved his staff into a powerful one handed grip and sent in smashing into the Orc's back.

WHACK!

Garrosh roared in pain and turned around to fight the Spartan, but he was too slow as the Spartan quickly blocked his soon to come attack with a powerful blow to his right arm, followed by a strike to his left shoulder in rapid succession, the strikes numbed his arms for only a moment, but that was enough for the Spartan to unleash several powerful strikes into his torso and that followed with a thrust into his stomach and a powerful series of blows to his exposed thigh areas with the staff. The Spartan then brought his staff into a spinning vertical circle with the lower end smashing hard into Garrosh's lower jaw and actually sent the Orc leader backwards and hard into the dirt.

The very second that happened, the audience was silent, that series of powerful attacks that the Spartan used to attack Garrosh's body had only lasted for a few seconds but had actually succeeded in sending the Orc down into the ground fast and hard.

All the while, the Spartan was calm and focused as he went back into his pattern from before, eyes focused on Garrosh while moving his staff in lazy circular motions and moving the weapon from one hand to the others. But this was not seen as a simple action anymore by the audience and those watching as Garrosh got up once more.

Garrosh growled a bit as he got up and rubbed his chin feeling pain shooting all over his body as he glared at the human who he was fighting. The leader of the Warsong Clan looked on at the Spartan who was now bare of his armor and wearing only a set of pants and boots while his gear was being watched over by the three Night Elves and the Blood Elves who were with him.

The human he had challenged to a duel was unharmed and still only armed with a wooden staff while he used his axes in this battle and had none of his armor on, expecting to win this fight easily against this Spartan. But the fight turned out differently as he was moving very fast and attacking with amazing speed and hitting with amazing power. At first the Orc thought that his foe was using hidden magic or was being assisted by the Night Elf Druid.

However that idea was not possible, as Thrall had already shown to him and everyone in this arena that the Spirits sensed no magic from this human and there was no spell being cast by the Night Elf Druid at all and as such, he was not cheating in any possible fashion. That made Garrosh even more enraged as he charged at the Spartan with a loud roar…and soon enough, the battle was well underway once more.

Garrosh was a strong and very capable Orc, strong enough to face most warriors in battle, and while he had taken the warrior's path late in his life, he was as capable as any Orc in a battle. His race was physically stronger than humans, and most other races except for the much larger races that existed in Azeroth for millennia. The toughness, size, strength, grace, ferocity and courage of his people flowed in Garrosh and was seen in his attacks and movements. He was a fierce Orc warrior and would never bow down to any foe in battle.

However, he and almost all of his fellow Orcs had never fought a Spartan II Commando before. And that was going to cost him dearly as he was facing a foe that he had never faced before in battle…

John and his fellow Spartans as a whole were in a sense, a literal breed apart from the humans that they were once part of and swore to protect with their lives, and there was good reason for it. In a way, one could say that the children that made up the first class of the Spartan IIs were the proverbial 'one in a million' or 'the genius born once in a generation'. This was not simple bravado or propaganda in any way. John and his brothers and sister was meticulously selected for having superior physical, mental and genetic traits as well as those that would prove instrumental in their soon to come lives as soldiers. This coupled with their demanding training regimes, diet, medical care, education, experience, and eventually their augmentations as well as their trademark MJOLNIR Armor molded them into the perfect warriors needed by the UNSC in the war with the Insurrection and eventually the war with the Covenant.

When they walked the battle field, they spread hope, awe, and at times fear in their allies, and hatred, terror, and anger in their enemies. Their numbers were few, but their actions in the war had more lasting effects than even three divisions of UNSC Marines. Their abilities made them known as Demons to the Covenant for they were near impossible to kill and could wipe out hundreds if not thousands of Covenant soldiers.

He personally was not the best of the Spartans in specific fields, but he along with Fred was the most balanced, but he stood out as the luckiest, and the bravest of them all. Even so….he was several steps above any human being any Orc had ever fought before…just as Garrosh was about to find out the hard way, another weakness Garrosh had was his way of viewing all humans to be the same as the ones his father fought who were part of the Alliance. He saw them as weak and lacking a true warrior's spirit as well as being too narrow minded.

He was about to be proven wrong in a very painful fashion.

Every attack the Orc unleashed on the Spartan was futile as the Spartan moved with a fluidity and grace that was beyond human as well as defend with lightning speed. In truth, John's augmented reflexes and speed were beyond any known human in Azeroth, in his enhanced body and battle hardened perspective, Garrosh's attacks were so slow and easy to predict that the Orc might as well would have been announcing his actions with a bull horn and telling him everything like a prisoner injected with a high concentrated dose of truth serum.

And when he attacked, all Garrosh could see was a blur of motion as he was trying to defend himself, but soon he was being pressed back hard and then just as he tried to defend himself, he left an opening and paid for it…

WHACK!

A shearing blast of pain hit his arm fast and hard as he moved away, his retaliatory attack aiming for the Spartan's neck was easily evaded in a blur of motion and the Spartan trust his staff forward like a spear and struck the young Hellscream right in the throat, making him cry out in surprise and pain while the Spartan moved back.

Garrosh barely had time to roar out in fury as the Spartan quickly flipped over him in mere moments and as he turned to strike with both axes as the Spartan landed on his feet, the Spartan moved the lower part of his staff upward and knocked his axes aside. Garrosh barely had time to react as the Spartan charged and rammed into him like a bullet train and sent the Orc reeling back, just as the Spartan moved in, whirling his staff with lighting speed and whacked both ends into Garrosh's torso in rapid succession.

Garrosh roared in pain and shock, this human as struck him with such speed and power that was unnatural for a human. He growled angrily and looked at the Spartan. But to his surprise, there was no emotion there…

(Nothing, not a sneer, not a smug smirk of arrogance, not even a look of triumph! It's like facing a statue!)

John showed no emotion in battle, never revealing anything to his foe while constantly calculating the various possible attack zones on his foe's body, his defensive actions, his mood, his posture, everything. He was meticulously taking everything he could see from Garrosh and develop counter attacks as well as plans of attack as well. He was going to tear down Garrosh bit by bit, just as Mendez had taught him and his fellow Spartans.

He moved a bit while lazily moving his staff in circles and moving the wooden weapon from hand to hand, all the while remaining completely emotionless and expressionless.

This was not lost to the witnesses of the duel between the head of the Warsong clan and this pale skinned human. The Orcs who were there could see the emotionless way the Spartan looked at Garrosh, showing absolutely nothing at all, and while some of the younger Orcs snorted at it…the elder ones, the veteran warriors were slightly unnerved by the way this human looked at his foe, he didn't seem to show anything at all as the two of them faced one another, there was no anger, no hatred…nothing at all.

Instead he was calm, patient, calculating, studying Garrosh for any action that would reveal his next move and how he would respond, it was as if he was merely taking his time and patiently cutting down Garrosh without showing any of his intentions. This was no simple human in the minds of the veterans as normally human soldiers would be driven by their anger and could be fairly easy to read…this human was not.

And the way he moved was unnatural, the only ones of their kind who could move that fast were the Blade-masters who formed the bodyguard of the Warchief, and even then, they were not able to move that fast as this human did.

The battle was soon brought back into action as Garrosh attacked with several spinning swings of both his axes at the Spartan, John remained focused, dodging each blow and when he spotted an opening, no matter how brief, he took it and lashed out with the staff's end, The Orc spotted and jumped back. But that was what the Spartan hoped he would do as he quickly leaped upwards and whacked Garrosh's right shoulder hard and though Garrosh had on his armor, the blow was enough to send the Orc back in pain. He barely had time to react as the Spartan struck once more with a powerful swing right into the stomach of the Orc.

The sound of wood hitting flesh was heard all over the Arena as the Spartan's attack had hit hard and send Garrosh back and the Orc roared in anger as he looked at the Spartan who remained calm and relaxed. He was getting very annoyed by this and vowed to make that human show any expression no matter what he had to do to get it. Garrosh quickly attacked and the two were once more trading blows with one another. The Spartan moved patiently with his foe, blocking and swatting attacks aside with ease and patience as he waited for the Orc to make a mistake.

Garrosh's pride and confidence in himself and his belief in the Might of the Horde was unbroken, though his body was showing the signs of the battle as well as the blows inflicted on him by his Spartan foe. He was not going to be beaten by this human. No matter how powerful this human was, he was going to show him the might of the Horde!

However, that attitude and his general disregard of the fact that he hardly cared to learn what he should have about the Spartan was going to cost him as he had several more parts of his body sing in pain as the Spartan struck hard and fast while blocking his attacks or moving them aside before he could mount a counter to the attacks unleashed by the Spartan.

It was at this point that he managed to close in, and attacking with one axe overhead, he moved quickly and lashed out with his other axe, and to his feeling of triumph, his weapon cut into the Spartan's chest, drawing blood finally. He backed off and grinned as he now finally wounded the Spartan and roared out his triumph into the Ring, it was not a deep cut, but it felt good to him to finally be able to strike back at his foe.

Garrosh's grin faded however as he looked to see that despite the cut on his chest, the Spartan was still calm and focused, no expression of pain was seen there at all even in his eyes. It was as if he had no feeling of pain whatsoever even as blood flowed from his wound. The Orc couldn't understand how this human could remain like this and even after being cut and wounded, showed no fear, pain, or discomfort whatsoever, he also realized that even as he had cut the Spartan, the man didn't even cry out at all. It was as if the wound was merely a simple scratch or an itch that he could easily ignore.

And as much as he didn't want to admit it….that unnerved him a good deal.

(What in the name of the Horde is he?)

John was not troubled by the wound he had on his chest, compared to the bullet wounds, cuts, lacerations, plasma burns, Needler fragment wounds, third degree burns, brain damage, damaged organs, internal bleeding, low blood pressure, battle fatigue, and more that he had suffered for the past thirty years, this cut was nothing to him but a simple inconvenience he could ignore easily enough. Besides, he had every intention of making Garrosh pay for that attack soon enough.

…

This was not lost to the Horde leaders as they continued to watch in interest and so did their fellows. Varok had never seen such calm before in any warrior, even the mightiest human would show some measure of pain from that blow…yet this human showed nothing, it was as if the wound given to him by Garrosh was but a minor thing. The same expression could be seen in his son as Dranosh spoke.

"Father…he shows neither pain nor discomfort…it's almost as if that wound was nothing to him. There's not an expression of pain anywhere in his face or even his eyes. He didn't even cry out when Garrosh cut him."

"I know Dranosh, I have a feeling that Garrosh has bitten off more than he can chew as the humans would say."

They were not the only ones as Baine himself commented to his father.

"This human is different indeed father, he moves in a way that goes against everything I have seen humans being able to do."

"That he does Baine, I suspect that this will be a fight that Garrosh will not soon forget."

Thrall looked on at the battle, he had to admit that for a moment, he was worried about his new found guest due to being challenged by Garrosh who by his own admission was one of the strongest Orcs he personally know of and worked with. But now it seemed that not only was his fear unfounded as the Spartan was showing himself to be a very capable fighter, but he now wondered what the end of this fight would be.

The other Horde leaders watched in greater interest.

…

Garrosh was getting very impatient with this, he had thought that with that wound, the Spartan would be more cautious and easier to attack, but he was proven wrong as the Spartan continued to fight and defend himself with amazing skill. And even though he would never admit it, he himself was impressed slightly by the Spartan's fighting skills.

He however was not going to give up and decided that he should try and taunt the Spartan, making him show weakness, no matter how skilled or powerful he was, if he would somehow wound the pride of this Spartan, it might give him yet another chance to defeat him. He spoke out his taunt loud and clear for all to hear so that their reactions might goad the Spartan into doing something rash that he could use to his benefit in their duel.

"You fight well, but I doubt you would survive in a real fight to the death Human."

The watchers around to the group were quick to pick up on Garrosh's attempt to try and goad the Spartan into doing something rash to make him lose his focus, and while their race were not keen on being cunning, they decided to let that action taken by Garrosh slide away for now as many of them were eager to see just how the Spartan would react to that taunt.

John was quick to pick up on the purpose of that taunt from Garrosh, but he remained focused and decided to reply to Garrosh's taunt, knowing that this would enrage the Orc and make him more prone to mistakes which he would exploit.

"If this was a real fight I would say only one thing to."

"And what would that be?"

Without batting an eyelash or cracking a smile or smirk, he replied in a loud voice that showed the same clam, and focus as before.

"You are going to die."

That was heard by everyone and soon enough, murmurs were heard in the crowds as they were surprised at the reply made by the Spartan and watched to see what the reaction of Garrosh was going to be. No one had ever said that to Garrosh Hellscream and didn't get an answer from the Orc, the other races of the Horde who watched were amused by this and looked on.

Sylvanas couldn't help but smirk at this as she found the Spartan's counter taunt to be rather…amusing.

"Now that was an interesting reply."

Lor'themar himself smirked at the words of this pale skinned human. Of all the things he expected the human to say in response to Garrosh's taunt, that was the least expected, yet it was also the most effective.

Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod were smiling widely at this while the two Night Elf women were very much impressed by the way the Spartan had effectively taunted the Orc he was fighting while they watched over his equipment and weapons, intent on making sure that no one would dare to steal the Spartan's gear even though Thrall gave his word that the Spartan's gear would not be touched.

…

Garrosh felt his anger and blood lust hit him in full force as all plans to goad the Spartan were thrown out of his mind, he was going to make him pay for those words as he gripped his axes tighter. The Orc then attacked the Spartan in full rage as he swung his axes in a flurry of attacks that were enough to tell the Spartan and the people watching that Garrosh had now been gripped in the blood lust of their people. Thrall's eyes widened as he knew that Garrosh had lost control and was now intent on killing the Spartan, he wanted to stop this but he could see that despite the fury Garrosh revealed, the Spartan was unmoved and was no doubt going to exploit this situation to deadly effect.

So despite his worry on the whole situation, the Warchief didn't interfere.

The Orc quickly attacked the Spartan with his axes in a fury while the Spartan quickly began to dodge and weave, looking still at the Orc to see if there was a way he could find a weakness in the Orc's attacks as well as hid defense. He however knew that with Garrosh enraged the way he was, he would make mistakes. And sure enough Garrosh does overextend himself as he charged at him with both axes swinging to take his head.

The Spartan however moved forward and ducked just as both axes missed his head and as soon as he was down, he smashes his staff right into Garrosh's stomach. Before the Orc could even cry out, the Spartan quickly made his move, moving to the ground, planting his feet into the chest of the Orc and quickly moved his staff and lift's Garrosh off his feet and tosses the Orc a fair distance to his back before he even knew that the Spartan was doing to him. The Spartan quickly got up and with lighting precision and speed, got up and moved his staff in a blur and smashed it into Garrosh's chest and quickly rolling away from the Orc and got into a calm defensive posture while still moving his staff in calm circles.

Garrosh roared and got up, his anger driving him as he vowed to kill this Spartan here and now, as soon as he was on his feet, he attacked quickly, moving quickly and hoping that he was going to be able to get into an opening that would allow him to wound the Spartan once more. The battle had taken too long for his liking, he had expected a quick victory over this Spartan to prove that the Horde's full might was not to be messed with and he would be able to show that this human's power was not enough to fight a member of the Horde.

But now this battle had changed completely from what he had thought of before and now he was being beaten around like a Peon by this human. He couldn't stand it! He was going to end this here and now one way or the other! He attacked once more and this time he decided that he should break the one advantage that the Spartan had, and that was to break the Spartan's weapon.

…

As the battle between Garrosh and John continued, the Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Blood Elves, and even a few of the Undead who had taken residence in the city of Orgrimmar looked on. Even the Peons who were usually forbidden from entering this place were looking at the battle and they were enjoying this. Peons were the dregs of Orc society and were treated as menial labor, even though they were Orcs, they were treated as a sub race and used only for back breaking labor with little to no recognition for their efforts.

In the past, the Peons' lives were seen as simple as one can get. They were given meager rations, simple clothes, a pick and axe along with a sack to carry things. They did all the labor that the other Orcs would never do, and suffer abuse from their overseers. They were not going to get better treatment from any of the other clans, of course Thrall and his fellow Frostwolf clansmen showed compassion and mercy to the Peons as well as treating them as valued members of the Horde and that was something that the Peons truly valued under the Warchief's rule as it was like a dream come true for them. However, other Orcs like those who were part of the Warsong Clan and even members of the Kor'kron Guard would still abuse them like the old Horde of the past, though this time, they were doing so when not in seeing range of Thrall.

The Peons might not show it, but they were showing satisfaction at seeing the arrogant and hot tempered Garrosh being beaten the way he was, even if it was being done by a human of all beings. They looked on in awe and wonder as the Orc was being badly beaten by the Spartan and soon, they began to wonder who this human was to be able to fight with such skill even when Garrosh was armed with a simple hard wood staff.

The Spartan seemed to be relaxed and unafraid as he moved in and blocked many of Garrosh' attacks on his person while the assembled Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Blood Elves, and some of the Undead looked on as the Spartan continued to fight evenly with Garrosh. The fight went on until the Spartan managed to block one attack but that was when he had his staff broken into two by Garrosh' other weapon.

Garrosh grinned once more, but like his previous grin his new grin faded as the Spartan quickly attacked with both broken parts of his staff and hit him fast and hard with a barrage of attacks, surprising the Orc with the way he seemed to see the destruction of his staff as a minor thing and instead attacked with both pieces. The Orc was suddenly finding himself being attacked at all sides, since even though John no longer had the staff's reach, he now had two weapons to attack with. And this new way of attack was confusing as the Spartan was attacking him in every angle possible.

Unknown to Garrosh, the Master Chief had picked up training in a variety of martial arts and combat styles that were included in the curriculum in his time on Reach, one such discipline was the fighting style known as Eskrima or by it's other names as Arnis and Kali. This was created in the Southeast Asian island nation of the Philippines which still existed on Earth as part of the. The style had it's roots in the country's inhabitants all throughout it's history as they usually carried knives in all manner of situations and developed the style to their needs in battle. The style focused on how to fight with swords, knives, wooden sticks and all manner of improvised weapons. It had been retained for centuries and was used even in the military for it's simplistic but highly effective style of teaching as well as it's deadly nature in turning simple things such as wooden sticks into powerful offensive weapons.

The only Spartans who had mastered the methods of Eskrima were naturally Fred who used the teachings in his Combat Knife fighting skills and Li who was the master martial artist of the Spartans. He mastered a good amount but never unlocked it's full potential, but in this case, what he learned about the style was more than enough.

Garrosh was utterly confounded at how this had happened; he had thought that destroying the staff would have limited the human's fighting skills to some fashion and give him the battle field advantage. But now his thoughts on the matter were turned completely wrong as he was being hit by two weapons this time around as the Spartan completely modified his approach to attacking him as he attacked with blinding speed with both sticks. The Orc roared in pain as he was being hit fast and hard by the Spartan who constantly attacked and this time around didn't use defensive maneuvers as he focused solely on offensive actions. The results were obvious as Garrosh now sported large welts and bruises in the exposed areas of his body, some of these said welts were already bleeding out.

He wanted to fight back, but this time, he was the one being placed into the need to be totally defensive as the Spartan continued to strike in some many possible angles that his attacks were like blurs before the Orc's eyes and he was attacking every part of his body. He tried to attack, but he was easily overwhelmed by the literal whirlwind of blurring strikes from the two sticks of the Spartan who seemed to be a master in attacking in close combat with both weapons.

The fight wore on until Garrosh was relieved of both axes with powerful strikes to both his wrists as the Spartan forced him to one of the nearby stone pillars and the Spartan struck out with his fist. The Spartan still had the sticks in his hands as he did so

The Orc managed to evade the attack, but his mouth gaped and so did the jaws of all gathered in the arena as the Spartan's fist hit the granite pillar and shattered a portion of it and sent the pieces flying away into the arena and he did so without uttering a single cry of pain. Garrosh looked at the Spartan as John pulled away his fist, uncaring for the cuts on his hand and moving his fingers as if they were not injured at all without a single expression on his face as he spoke.

"Do you want to continue?"

And for the very first time….even though he knew that he would never be able to forget this moment for as long as he was alive, Garrosh shook his head and replied.

"No…I…wield!"

John nodded and moved away, allowing Garrosh to move back up his feet as the Spartan turned to await the verdict of Thrall himself. And it was not going to be long as the Warchief announced the winner. The reaction to the news was fairly obvious as the audience was now talking about what they all had just witnessed before all of them this day. The most common topic of discussion with the audience was the fact that the human had just won the bet as everyone thought that he was going to be easily beaten by Garrosh. But now it seemed that he had beaten the odds hands down and was now going to earn the money that was placed against him winning the battle between him and Garrosh.

…

Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod smiled at how the Spartan had fought, both women happy that he was more than all right, while Erin smiled warmly, Janna nodded with a look of approval while Tannis was indeed impressed by what he had seen. They were not alone as Nashkar and his family was also there and the Orc was surprised at how this human fought. They were not alone as Mothral and Ruskhain looked on at the way the Spartan had fought without his MJOLNIR Mark VI or his weapons of choice.

All of the audience in the Ring's audience areas looked on, utterly silent it what they had witnessed before them all. This human had not only defeated Garrosh Hellscream, but did so in a fashion that was beyond anything a regular human could ever be able to do no matter how well trained that human happened to be. Through the arena, words were being spoken, arguments between different groups flared, and the passing of opinions was everywhere. The Warsong Clan Orcs glared darkly at the Spartan just as Garrosh did, yet the Spartan seemed to be hardly concerned by all of that

…

As for the leaders of the Horde…

Thrall was looking on in amazement, in all of his years growing up and leading the Horde, he had never seen any human who didn't have the aid of magic fight like this before, he had heard of humans with great skill and strength, but this…Spartan was truly different. He had just prove then his abilities were not to be ignored in battle and that proved that he had indeed destroyed the Defias Brotherhood by himself. For a moment, he wondered just what had been done to this human to make him like this, he decided to talk to him and Jaina later to get more details, but one thing was certain in the mind of the Warchief. This human was not to be taken lightly for any reason. And he had a feeling that he was going to have a very long discussion with this human soon enough.

He could also see the very same thoughts in Varok, his son Dranosh, Rehgar, Lonetree, and Eitrigg as well.

…

Cairne Bloodhoof rubbed his beard slowly, impressed by how the Spartan fought, he moved in such a way that was beyond what he had seen humans be able to do. The strength he displayed and the sheer lack of pain on his face after doing that to a solid granite pillar told him that this human was not one to take lightly and it would make sense what Jaina had said about him. This human was interesting despite his use of technology and he could bet that there was lot more to him as well as was to be believed by what Mothral had told him.

Baine himself was curious about this human and wondered what else was there to see.

…

Vol'jin was impressed as well as he ran his hand on his chin and thought of what he had already seen. He knew that he still knew little of this human but he could very well be a great ally should he manage to convince him to help his people reclaim their home in the Echo Isles. The Darkspear Troll leader naturally he was not sure that it would be that easy, but there was no sense not trying at all.

…

Lor'themar Theron looked at the human with a very curious eye, he had seen humans before and had fought with a few of them, one being the Paladin Jorad Mace. But this human was undeniably different as he seemed to radiate power and fight with a skill that few humans possess. He could see now why he had recently been told that Erin had sent a letter to be assigned with this…Spartan and the same could be said for Janna and Tannis. He wondered if it was possible to ask for this human's aid in the near future, as he had a feeling that there will come a time that his people will need allies….even if they were not part of the Horde.

…

Sylvanas looked at the human with some level of interest, she despised humans and those who served with the Alliance and wanted nothing to do with them. However…this human, this Spartan was different, her spies were able to tell her that he was not a user of magic in any form, but possessed technology the likes of which they had never seen before. And he seemed to be beyond any human is able to become as he was quite skilled and capable in battle. They also heard rumors of him actually annihilating the Defias Brotherhood by himself without any aid from the Alliance, and that had now been confirmed by both Jaina and himself.

While she had no love for the Alliance and cared little for their problems…the fact that they were all annihilated by this human all by himself with little to no aid from them was a feat worthy of attention from the Banshee Queen. Added to that was what she had just witnessed before her, this human was power incarnate in her eyes…and could be useful in the near future.

Thrall then decided that he should announce the winner and did so as he spoke to assembled audience.

…

Later…

Kaelyn sat next to the Spartan as she was currently wrapping a bandage around his chest, she had a simple smile as she did this as this was the first time that she was touching the Spartan in a non combat situation and while using a bandage was not new to her, this was interesting to say the least. She focused her thoughts on placing the bandage on him after Sandra had taken her turn and had applied a powerful healing balm on the cut which also served as a anti-toxin on the off chance that Garrosh's axes had some poison on it. That was hardly possible as this had been a duel of honor under the rules of the Horde, but better to take the medicine now than regret it later.

As soon as the bandage was done, the Night Elf Sentinel nodded in satisfaction as she spoke to him.

"There, the bandage is all done."

John examined the bandage and nodded in approval as he spoke.

"Not bad, now I should get back into my MJOLNIR, I have been out of it for a rather long time.

The two Night Elves watched as the Spartan placed on the body suit without any worry about the bandages that were on his chest, and began to place back all the armor components that made up the Armor system that he had with him. As he did so, he began to run the BIOS system in the MJOLNIR and found to his satisfaction that the heavy shielding and hardening done to the Assault Armor was very much doing it's job as every key system was operating at peak efficiency. He ran through all the checks either way however as per procedure and then spoke to his long time companion to see how she was doing right now as soon as he wore his helmet.

"Cortana, you all right?"

The cold water feeling came back into his mind and he heard her voice.

"Finally you're back…It's a real problem when you're not around, but don't worry I am working fine John, besides, like I said, the shielding around my chip is working perfectly to keep me safe. So what did I miss?"

John allowed Cortana to look into his memories via the Spartan Neural interface and it was not long before Cortana gave a very simple whistle of appreciation for what he had shown here and naturally she had her comments on the whole thing.

"Now that was a good fight, not the best I have seen, but it was certainly worth it. Now then, I think it's best we get ready to be grilled by the leaders of the Horde, I've got a feeling that as soon as we leave the arena, we're going to be in for quite a bit of talking to as well as gawking from the people who are no doubt going to see you."

John shrugged and got his gear back into place as he was soon joined by Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod who had been outside of the room, once they were out of the arena, they were soon joined by Erin, Janna, and Tannis with all three Blood Elves smiling, with Erin being a lot more open with her appreciation while Janna was interested to see if she could test her own skills in a match with him as well at a much later date. The group then moved out and just as Cortana had predicted soon being looked at by the citizens of Orgrimmar, and while some looked on with awe, others were wary and even very much worried as they were looking at the Spartan. This was different from the reactions he got in the awarding ceremony on the ODP Station Cairo but he hardly bothered with the details. They were soon joined by a number of the Kor'kron Guard and in the lead was Harg himself who was smiling all the while as he spoke.

"Now that was in impressive fight, you've just shown that you are a cut above the regular humans I have seen in my years."

John shrugged at that and turned to see Tarkell nodding with approval and so did his son Nashkar and his family. He gave them a nod and soon they were off, back to the Hold where they had met Thrall and the leaders of the Horde before. The Spartan had a feeling that he was going to be in for a very long amount of questioning, but he was already getting used to that, though he decided to talk to Cortana for a bit while moving along. They needed to get some things squared away first before they decided to get into the whole question and answer part of his second meeting with the leaders of the Horde.

Plus he had a very serious thought that Garrosh was not going to give up, after he had defeated the Orc, there was no doubt in the Spartan's mind that he was going to look for another chance at pay back.

…

In Gromash Hold…

Thrall, Lor'themar, Cairne, Baine, Varok, Dranosh, Vol'jin, Sylvanas, Lonetree, and even Garrosh looked at the Spartan as he walked in, now wearing his MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor while his weapons were now with him. Garrosh glared darkly at the Spartan as he looked at the calm expression the human had on him, though he could hardly tell what the expression was due to the fact that the Spartan's face was hidden by his visor.

Even after the dull pain of his injuries had faded from the use of healing magic from the Shaman that had tended to his wounds, he could still feel the pain in his mind, and his body reacted at his memories. He vowed that when the time came, he and the Spartan would have a reckoning and he would have his chance to truly defeat him. However he had to remember that he had lost in the duel of honor by the human who was now recognized by everyone in Orgrimmar as a far deadlier fighter than he was. That certainly didn't make it any easier for him as his pride demanded that he fight the Spartan again.

The Spartan hardly paid attention as he sat down on a large stone chair that was there in the hold, while he was flanked by Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod as well as White Claw; he was soon joined by Erin, Janna, and Tannis. As soon as everything seemed to be calmer, the Warchief then spoke to the Master Chief.

"You have proven yourself a very capable fighter Spartan, there's no denying that. However there are a lot of questions that I and my fellow leaders wish to ask. One of which is who exactly are you?"

John replied to that, he was not going to reveal too many critical details on himself, but considering the many things he had been through ever since being on this world, he knew that he would have to be a bit more giving in terms of information. The information of the history of the UNSC was acceptable, as well as the war with both the Covenant and the Flood, but everything that was critically important was to be kept in the dark. And while the program that created him and his fellow Spartans was made public, that only applied to the UNSC, not these people.

"Master Chief Petty Officer, Spartan-117 of the United Nations Space Command Navy Special Warfare Division."

Thrall could tell that this was a long one, however, he and the other leaders had been told by Jaina that the first words was the man's military rank, the next was his name and number, while the rest was the group he worked. He looked at the others and all of them were quick to show that like him, they too had no idea what this UNSC is supposed to be.

"Very well then, Spartan, my next question is simple but has great impact on this meeting itself. You are human in very aspect, but you7r performance in the Ring of Valor tells me and no doubt all of us here that you are no mere human. You may not use magic or magical items, nor do you have magical power in you, but those feats were beyond anything we have seen. What exactly are you?"

John had a conversation with Cortana on how best to answer that question. This was the one question that he wanted to avoid. But he knew that considering what he had shown them and taking into account how most of the Horde viewed humans, he was going to have to deal with that part sooner or later.

"Do I have to do this?"

"That is up to you John, but you can always avoid the key details and information, just give them a brief version and what exactly did they see there."

John thought it over, and every part of his military trained mind was that this was against everything in the book. This was one of the toughest moments of his life as he knew that what he would say, even if it was minimal was going against all that he had been trained to do. However, he was well aware of the fact that this world was not his own and they neither had the concept of how the process for selecting Spartans was done, not to mention they had none of the technology nor the medical expertise for the procedure.

However, after learning about magic and it's powers, including the anti aging spells that Aegwynn used to keep her alive for nearly several millennia, he knew that they could try something like that. However, without any proper way of doing the full procedure, they were not going to get all the details needed to start anything that could come close to the level of the Spartan II Program, he could try and take the risk and just give a brief version. Besides, if there was a problem that might come up soon, he would be willing to deal with it.

…

He took his breath in and decided to speak now and get things over and done with instead of letting the whole thing hang over his head for who knew how long.

"I am very much human, but not the same as any human you might know of. I am what you can call a Spartan which in this case, would refer to what you can call a super soldier."

Sylvanas looked on with interest at that.

"Super soldier?"

"Where I come from, I was selected through a special process to determine if I was suitable for the Super Soldier Program that made me into a Spartan. The term Spartan itself has great meaning to the Humanity that I came from. We were named as such in honor of the Spartans of the ancient city state of Sparta itself in the home-world of my people. The Spartans were known to be the finest warriors of their time and we were to embody that trait and reputation."

The Orcs listened to this and that allowed the Spartan to continue with his explanations, this was not unheard of to them as in their society, they have always worked hard to make sure that their people were able to handle the kinds of dangers their world had to offer, this was why they felt a level of respect for warrior cultures and these humans known as Spartans seemed to mirror them to some extent which was surprising to say the very least as they had not heard of humans willing to do this to their children.

"The Spartans were warriors by nature and by culture. Every male child born is examined and tested extensively; those who are shown to be sickly or physically deformed are abandoned to who pass are taken into the barracks at the age of seven and are trained to be soldiers under the watch of veteran Spartans soldiers. They are given little food and have to forage and steal to make up for that, learning how to fight and survive and are punished for being caught, not for stealing. Once they were older, they were required to serve in the army of Sparta until they were thirty years of age to become citizens of Sparta itself, the Spartans are all citizen warriors, trained to endure, survive, and obey without question, and fight with all they have to the end. They are required to marry at twenty but cannot be with their families until they reach the age of citizenship at thirty. They are trained to fight as a unit and all of them treat one another as fellow equals in the battle field and are trained to do what is right without question."

"In the end, they left behind no great works, stories, and stonework, but they left behind a legacy that endured for over four thousand years in the history of mankind in my world. Long ago, the Persian emperor Xerxes began an invasion of the Greek city states, gathering an army that had soldiers from half the known world under his empire's sway. The Greeks marshaled a defense in response with the first being a naval blockade to keep the Persian Navy from attacking while the Spartan King Leonidas gathered three hundred of his Spartan Royal Guard, those with living sons to continue their lines, along with support soldiers and marched to a pass known as Thermopylae. There he and his soldiers along with five thousand other Greek soldiers to form an army of seven thousand against Xerxes' forces that numbered a full two hundred and twenty five thousand."

The Horde leaders listened to the whole story, and even Garrosh was silent as he listened on to what the Spartan was going to say next.

"For two days, the Spartans and their fellow Greeks fought on, using the terrain, and location to their advantage as well as their equipment and training. They inflicted nearly twenty five thousand losses to the Persians, forcing the Persians to walk over the bodies of their comrades and wade through the blood soaked lands. Eventually they were betrayed when a sheepherder, seeing a chance to become rich at the expense of his fellow Greeks, told the Persians of a pass that allowed them to surround the Greeks. The Greeks knew there and then that they were finished, Leonidas then ordered the Greeks to leave and regroup while he and his Spartans remained to cover the retreat, and they were not alone as seven hundred soldiers from the city state of Thebes stayed with them to fight to the end."

"On the last day, the Persians attacked in full force and the Spartans and their allies fought like men possessed for they knew that every minute they spent fighting would be another minute that their allies could regroup, re-supply, and prepare for the counter attack. The battle lasted nearly an entire day as the Spartans and their allies fought with spears, when those were shattered and broken, they used their swords until they were notched, chipped and shattered, and they used their hands and teeth."

Varok then spoke to the Spartan as he was now able to understand what was the story behind the name of Spartan that this human seemed to carry.

"And what happened to the Greeks who remained behind in the battle of Thermopylae?"

The Spartan replied with all seriousness.

"Dead to the last man, Leonidas himself was brought before Xerxes who in a rage for the loss of his forces and two of his brothers had the dead Spartan king's head cut off and placed on a pike while his body was mutilated. But the Spartans and their allies did what they had set out to do and brought the rest of the people of their lands enough time to prepare and rebuild as much as they could. What was by all rights a defeat turned into a powerful victory as they had not only cost the Persian Army much in terms of time, supplies and manpower, but they had broken the fighting spirit of the Persians as they were terrified of fighting the full might of the Spartan Army, for if three hundred Spartans could do this much to them, what would happen if they faced a full army? That is why I and the rest of my brothers and sisters who were part of the program carry the name of Spartan."

"I was not alone either as others were chosen. However, under the rules of the UNSC, I cannot and will not tell you everything about it, but I can say these details at least as an overview. I and the others were specially trained for years, educated in the arts of war, science, technology, weapons, combat tactics, strategy, martial arts, history, everything needed for soldiers at a young age. By the time we were in our early teens, we were experts in both conventional and unconventional warfare, and trained as not just soldiers, but as pilots, marksmen, explosives experts, scouts, heavy weapons experts, and assassins."

The Horde listened to this while their advisors were also listening well, with Garrosh looking at the Spartan, still angry and not willing to trust him, though he was listening either way. That was when Baine spoke to him.

"But surely your family had something to say about that matter?"

The Spartan merely replied to that.

"I do not think so, in order to maintain secrecy of the Program, I and those chosen were covertly kidnapped and replaced with clones."

Baine was surprised by that and so did the others, even Garrosh was looking at the Spartan in confusion. John could see that they needed a bit more help in getting the idea and explained it.

"Clones were exact copies of living beings, where I come from, we use a technological process called Flash Cloning, by taking samples of a being's blood and tissues, we could clone organs and limbs easily for replacement surgery to save lives and since the limbs and organs were made using the person's own blood and tissues they were not subject to rejection by the body. Erin Firestar had been badly wounded and actually had her right arm so badly torn up that it was useless. But as you can see, the process I described gave her a new arm that is just the same as her old arm."

That got a reaction for everyone in the room, and even the Kor'kron Guard who were there were very curious. The idea of recovering organs and limbs was not unknown to them, but it required very powerful healing magic to do so. To know that there was technology powerful enough to create limbs and organs was a very shocking and slightly disturbing thought. Sylvanas however was very intrigued by that, all for her own reasons as she wondered about the possibilities of such technology being used by her fellow Forsaken. It was when the Spartan continued to speak about the whole thing.

"That process however does have it's weakness, it is possible to clone a full human, but it is fraught with risks and is highly illegal in the UNSC. The clone can be allowed to live through intense training and physical therapy, but the process of rapidly growing a clone leave it open to various diseases and physical irregularities that cut down it's survival rate. The clones that replaced me and the others were doomed to die and did die. With their deaths and us already long gone, we died in the eyes of the rest of humanity. In essence…we no longer exist, the only family we had now was each other, as well as the head trainer of our unit and the head of the Spartan Program, the former we respected to the point he became our father, and the latter being our mother for we have undying respect towards them."

John then worked on the rest of it, uncaring for the way the Horde leaders and their advisors looked at him as they grasped just what it meant.

For Garrosh, he was looking at the Spartan in a slightly different fashion, he still disliked the Spartan immensely…but to never know his true parents, he couldn't fathom that, he recalled how sullen and depressed he had been when he knew his father when Grom was still corrupted, and how confident and brave he felt when he learned how his father redeemed himself. This human never knew his parents at all, and that struck a small chord in the mind of the Orc, though he still had his doubts on the matter.

"At that time and at that exact age, we were subjected to special medical procedures and augmentations; I won't say what they are and how the process was done, as under the rules of the UNSC I cannot divulge that information despite the situation I am in. However I am at liberty to discuss that these surgeries had great and otherwise fatal risks and few recovered well from them, one of them being myself, but the benefits were worth it for the lives we led as Spartans."

Thrall was silent and so were Garrosh, Varok, and Dranosh as well as the leaders and after a moment, the Warchief spoke once more.

"What sort of benefits are we talking about?"

"We could lift three to four times our own body weight which is double the weight of an average human due to increased muscle and bone mass, we have near indestructible bones, our speed and reaction time is twenty times faster than even the best human soldier to being near instantaneous in combat situations, our physical strength alone is enough shatter bone, wood and bend even metal."

"Our intelligence and creativity levels are three to four times better than any regular human being, we have increased sight range and unaided night vision, we can run at speeds that would cause irreparable damage to an average person's heart, brain, lungs and muscles, we have a near telepathic ability to sense the changes in a battle field as some would say as well as working with other Spartans. And we have regenerative abilities that make us recover from injuries that would cripple or kill most if not all humans if they were injured the way we were, we also have some level of tolerance to poison and cannot become sick due to our enhancements."

John thought it over and spoke some more to add emphasis to what he had just mentioned.

"Those who did the procedures on us and trained us said that we could do all that when we were still teenagers. I am technically already in my middle or late forties, though I am still physically younger due to being kept alive and asleep for a very long time, so all of those abilities I and all my fellow Spartan possess have grown stronger and better. You could say that I and those who are Spartans before we became such… are considered the one in a billion kind of being, a literal breed apart from the rest. In that sense we represented the best of mankind, and made even better than before through the Spartan Program."

"I personally do not bother with the details of it all and prefer to keep them safe as they are military secrets, but what I have told you is no lie."

The implications of what they had heard had floored the Horde leaders as they were still trying to digest it all. Thrall's eyes widened as he began to picture such things in his mind and he shuddered a bit at what the results would be. Vol'jin was rubbing his chin and deep in thought, Cairne and Baine were also silent, while both Lor'themar and Sylvanas were silent though the Banshee Queen seemed to have a ghost of a smile on her face on what she had learned.

Erin and Janna as well as Tannis were surprised to learn about that from the Spartan who they were working with, the Rogue/Mage was the most affected as she looked in utter awe and admiration towards the Spartan while Janna was further intrigued by all this.

Garrosh spoke out to that.

"You expect us to believe that?"

Varok replied.

"Quiet Garrosh, he is not lying, after all, he had no magic to aid him at all when he fought you, and not only did he defeat you in honorable combat, but gave you a beating that no human could possibly do with the weapons he had. In fact, had he been using bladed weapons and it was a duel to the death, he would have easily killed you even before you could raise your axe half way to your body, and I dare say that you would have been dead long before you even hit the sand of the arena. And don't bother saying otherwise Garrosh, I was there as you well know."

The younger Hellscream growled a bit and glared at the Spartan darkly as he knew reluctantly that what Varok said was the truth, the silence wore on until Thrall spoke once more.

"Those procedures that you have undergone…they are very extreme indeed even with the benefits that you have. You and your people as well as your fellow Spartans must have faced very powerful enemies and took part in deadly battles to require you to take such drastic actions."

John nodded at that and sighed a bit, knowing that this was going to be a very long day the very second that he would mention the thirty year war he had been in before. He then decided to at least enlighten them of several things that would prove helpful, namely some of the basic history of the UNSC and the people he fought, bled, and nearly died for more times than he cared to remember. With that, he decided to reveal Cortana and she agreed to it, he opened reach out his hand and soon Cortana appeared, dressed in the same fashion as she had appeared before Tirion, Bolvar, Anduin and Varian. The ever chipper and witty A.I looked at the surprise in the faces of the Horde leaders and leaped off her protector's hand.

She greeted them with a smile and although there were questions, she replied that they could ask them at a different time as she revealed images to them in the same fashion that she had shown Tyrande back in Darnassus months before.

With that, the two of them told the leaders and their advisors the story of the UNSC while omitting key details and information that was deemed too sensitive. John and Cortana told them about several of the conflicts that Humanity in his world dealt with until they developed the first working Slipspace Drive; a device that he explained was the technological equivalent to the Dark Portal that connected the former home-world of the Orcs and how the first colony ship landed a world that they terra-formed into a habitable world for humans. Afterwards, they also mentioned that this led to the expansion of the UNSC into other locations to find even more habitable worlds.

They didn't say the locations of the worlds in question, only saying that the UNSC or rather the humans which they were part of, controlled in the coming centuries over eight hundred worlds.

In turn, they didn't also get into specifics in terms of numbers but he mentioned to the leaders that the UNSC had over thousands of space borne warships of different types as well as fighters, along with a powerful planet based navy, all of the said ships were crewed by hundreds to near a thousand men and women. He also mentioned the UNSC Army, their role as a Garrison and land based defense force, the UNSC Marine Corps who served as ship and station security, boarding forces, and planetary assault, he also mentioned the UNSC's elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, the UNSC Navy who he was part of and served as the naval warfare arm of the UNSC, and the UNSC Air force and their deadly airborne military assets.

Through this, they showed holographic images of those said forces in action. The Horde witnessed how Marines and Army fought in battle, how UNSC Naval ships on the sea and in space fought, as well as the Air Force. They also saw the ODSTs drop from ships in space right into the planet and begin fighting the very moment of their release.

Cortana then finished the briefing that all in all, the UNSC had over billions of well armed, well trained, well funded forces, dwarfing anything the Alliance and Horde could ever hope to muster in a short time, and they were armed with an industrial base that dwarfed anything the Alliance or the Horde could ever have in Azeroth. They also possessed weapons that were able to level entire cities and wipe armies right off the map if such force was ever needed.

...

The results of such a showing were fairly obvious to everyone the room as the people there tried to grasp the fact that there were humans beyond their own world who had actually been able to achieve such power in such a time. They all knew how ambitious and driven humans would be, since they had seen this first hand with the humans who were in the Alliance. But these humans of the UNSC had taken that ambition and drive to a level that boggled their minds very easily.

To think these humans had such military, economic and industrial might, accomplishing all that without the aid of magic…such a view was very hard to picture. Thrall was silent as he gazed at the Spartan and his A.I companion carefully, trying to determine what he should say to the two of them. It was obvious that before him was a human being who was beyond any human he knew, his people had actually carved an empire in the stars, and had such power. Yet the question still remained as who were their enemies, he knew that there would always be enemies somewhere and no doubt the UNSC was no exception. With that in mind, he spoke once more

"I see, but I have no doubt that you faced enemies that tested your forces."

John nodded and so did Cortana as the Spartan replied.

"You are correct in that regard, we Spartans were created to deal with brush fire wars and rebellion. It is in human nature to be their own master and to carve their own destiny. There had been calls from colonies to declare independence from the UNSC. The protests were peaceful at first until the more radical ones took terrorist methods and began to attack vital military targets. Support waned for them, but their number grew, initially the UNSC used conventional military force to deal with them."

"That worked for a while until the Insurrection movement became organized and more dangerous. Some wondered why we didn't grant them the independence they wanted, but the economic, and strategic value of the colonies made such an idea useless. So we Spartans were created. We were to serve as a covert force to slice down the Insurrection movement before it got too expensive in terms of lives and property, both civilian and military. We did so, and we did what we trained to do very well for many years."

"But that all changed when humanity itself came under attack by a collection of Alien races known as the Covenant."

Vol'jin spoke next.

"De Covenant? What de Covenant be mon?"

Cortana spoke.

"A collection of alien races united by a theocracy or a government led by religious leaders known to us in the UNSC as the Prophets, they wielded far greater technology, weaponry and numbers than we did when we first met them. When we first met them, it was on Harvest, we never fought with them before nor did we even know what was the reason initially, but they all declared war on the UNSC and Humanity in general. They called humans as affronts to their Gods and we were to be wiped out from the universe. That started the UNSC-Covenant War."

...

Cortana and John then revealed to the Horde just who and what the Covenant were as images once more appeared before the leaders of the Horde, their advisors, and also the others who were there in the room as well. Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod had seen these images before and knew the horror that was about to be shown and closed their eyes to this. That action was not lost to Erin and her companions as well as the Horde leadership. They wondered just what the reason was for such an action from the three Night Elves, but they were soon going to find out on their own.

The leaders of the Horde and their advisors watched in surprise and shock as the records of the Spartan's battles were now being shown to them all in the view screen. Cortana had managed to finish her compilation and had handed them the records that showed just what the Spartan had been involved in for the past many years of his life…and the records were very much extensive as they looked at it.

This was the very first time they were actually seeing alien species, namely the Sangheili, the Unggoy, the Kig-Yar, the Mgalekgolo, the Jiralhanae, the Yanme'e, and then the Flood. Thrall, Varok, Dranosh, Cairne, Baine, Lonetree, Eitrigg, Garrosh, Vol'jin, Lor'themar, Sylvanas, Kaelyn, Sandra, Jarrod, Erin, Janna, Tannis watched as the Spartan and his human allies, both male and female face off with these foes in many battles for the past years of his life. Cortana explained the various races to the leaders of the Horde, from their significance to the Horde leaders, to their culture, positions in the Covenant, what they were capable of, and how they were each recognized for their respective combat roles. Seeing the Flood in action in consuming living and dead beings was also a bit shocking to the assembled leaders,as they had never seen that before, and the screams of the living victims of the Flood sounded too real to their comfort, even Sylvanas was wide eyed at the sight as this was something she had never seen before.

Cortana shuddered to herself as she looked at the images and frowned when she saw Gravemind once more, even though it was a mere image, she still recalled the torture the bastard had subjected to her and how it nearly drove her mad with Rampancy. No doubt the creature had plenty of practice torturing the Forerunner , and it nearly did her in, the only reason she kept her sanity apart from her loyalty to the UNSC, was the man behind her. She smiled t herself at that while seeing the looks of the leadership as they saw the monstrous leader of the Flood itself.

From the various battles that the Spartan had taken part of ever since the Battle of the Chi Ceti system, to the Harvest Campaign, Battle of Jericho VII, the rescue of Dr. Catherine from the Covenant, Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Fall of Reach, to his time in the Pillar of Autumn to the first Halo Ring, the Battle in the Unyielding Hierophant, all the way to the last moments in the Ark.

Naturally throughout all of the show, Cortana had removed the information that was too sensitive for them to see and should naturally be kept under wraps, namely the exact location of the Halo Rings, The colonies of the UNSC which were not yet glassed by the Covenant, and any other details that she knew were best left buried.

…

When they finally finished their study of the videos and the Night Elves opened their eyes, they decided that it was better that the man would be given as much respect as they could give…because if he could survive fighting such creatures for nearly his entire life, then they doubted that anything they have ever encountered would compare to his own experiences.

Thrall was silent for the time being and even the normally arrogant Garrosh was also silent and the same could be said for the other leaders of the Horde itself. After a while, Thrall spoke to the Spartan.

"You have shown us quite a lot Spartan, yet we have many questions, the first is fairly simple, why is it that the Covenant tried to wipe your people out?"

Cortana replied to that.

"In the first stages to near the end of the war, we had no idea….only later did we realize just why that was the case. Nearly a hundred thousand years ago, a race more advanced and powerful than either of our sides existed, they were the Forerunners, but they too met their end by the hands of the Flood, not because they were weak, they were ill prepared to fight a foe like them, as you all have seen, the Flood can adapt and evolve to face any foe they encounter, they assimilate the bodies and minds of their foes, and of course the Gravemind commands them in battle."

"The Forerunners treated it as a containment action, only when they realized the true danger of the Flood to all sentient life did they declare all out war, but by then, they were too late as the Flood had hold of the galaxy and countered their tactics well enough. They managed to defeat the Flood but nearly were wiped out along with almost all life, they saved specimens of course and repopulated the worlds that were cleansed of life. The Forerunners left to unknown parts or went into hiding and after that, they were worshiped as Gods by the Covenant who were formed thousands of years after. They were in the belief made by the Prophets who lied to them about this Great Journey to become Gods themselves."

"The Prophets then discovered that Humanity was special in the eyes of the Forerunners, so much so that they were marked as the Inheritors or Reclaimers, which was why their technology activated only by the touch of a human, in essence Humanity where I and the Chief came from were also Forerunners. The Prophets realized that if it ever came out that their religion was a lie, they would lose all power. So they hid the evidence and ordered a war of extermination on Humanity to bury the truth."

That sent waves of horror through the leaders at the implications though Sylvanas was silent on the matter, Varok then spoke seriously.

"They would rather wipe out an entire species who by right were the inheritors of their 'Gods' the 'children' of their Gods as it were to hide the truth and hold on to their power?"

At the nod of the Spartan and the A.I, the veteran Orc felt like he was going to become sick, the memories of the horrors his people inflicted on the humans and others when they were gripped by the curse of Mannaroth came back to his mind. This war of extermination the Covenant unleashed on the humans merely to hide their lies sickened the Orc deeply, even Thrall himself was disgusted while the others such as Vol'jin, Cairne, Baine, Lor'themar, Dranosh, Eitrigg and Lonetree were disgusted, Garrosh remained silent the whole time as well.

Cairne then spoke to the Spartan.

"You and your people fought them for nearly three decades, why did you ally with them?"

John replied to that.

"We had little choice in the matter, since we both now had a common enemy, them being the Flood and the Loyalists. The Elites however had long since changed their perceptions of humans, long ago they viewed all of the UNSC as well and inferior, trash so to speak and perversions to the eyes of the Forerunners and thought it an easy matter to wipe us all out. But for the thirty years length of the war we had with them, they began to change, while we were still weak physically to them and wielding inferior technology, they began to respect humans. They admitted that out technology was effective and deadly in the right hands, that we were honorable and brave, willing to fight to the end no matter what, coupled with our tactics and strategy were equal to them. That is a hard step for any member of the Covenant to take, and they even questioned what was supposed crime to their Gods that warranted our extermination by the Prophets."

"When they learned the truth as well as the betrayal of their leaders and their murders by the Prophets and their Brute servants, they broke from the Covenant and fought with us against both them and the Flood. I rather doubt that it was an easy choice, but it was the only one we had at the time."

Thrall thought it over and spoke once more.

"I see, your tale is indeed a powerful one...but now the last question I have is this. What brought you here to this world?"

The Spartan shrugged as Cortana moved back, shrunk herself back to her previous size, leaping into John's hand and disappeared back inside the MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armor as he replied.

"I do not know actually, there are many possible answers and not all of them are easy to explain in any case. I however wish to point out that I am remaining neutral throughout all this. I am not born of this world so I have no reason to fight for the Alliance or the Horde. I am well aware of the history of the Horde when they came to Azeroth and why humans have great animosity towards your people, and I was told about the other races with the exception of the Forsaken, but I have no interest in such things."

"All I want to do is gather all the information can find of all the races here, history, culture, customs, traditions, everything. I have no interest in engaging in war unless I have no other option. I am willing to fight for Humanity as that has been my mission and purpose as a Spartan so I will fight for the humans of the Alliance, but I will not be dragged into political squabbles or blood feuds. Once I have gathered all I need, then and only then will I take a more open role to my stay here."

"I have made an arrangement with the leader of the Night Elves, High Priestess Tyrande as well, that being that I do not cause trouble for her people while I gather information and supplies that I might need while I am in this world and in their lands. In turn, they help me learn more of the lands and their people. I have already gone to the lands of the humans and the Alliance as you no doubt know, there I learned their culture and more, I have intentions to travel to other cities that belong to both the Alliance and the Horde and learn all that I can, so I hope that your people will not mind if I look at your records to have a more in depth understanding of your people in all ways."

Garrosh finally spoke.

"How can we be sure that you won't use the information to your advantage? For all we know, you might have already figured out how strong Orgrimmar is to assault and the forces in the city, and if we let you into the cities of our allies, you might do the same thing. How can we be sure that you won't sell that information to the Alliance?"

John replied to that.

"You don't, I collect information, and in truth I did scan the city to determine it's strengths and weaknesses as per my training. However, I have no interest in selling such information and I do it out of habit, which has saved my life more than once. The more I know about things, the less likely I end regretting it later on. And I have no interest in being the cause of a war in this world I happen to be in. My concern is to stay alive and await rescue from the UNSC if it comes, I am not here to start a war with two sides all by myself. There's nothing for me to gain if I start fighting either side after all so why would I fight for either side against the other?"

"All I end up doing is making enemies I don't need to fight, wasting materials and supplies that I shouldn't, causing upheaval for no reason, the list can go on and on."

"My place is neutral as well, I will allow members of the Horde and the Alliance to stay there as long as they are following my rules and not start fighting in my base. I will NOT allow either side to use my base of operations as a location for them to strike on either side. And I have NO interest in trading my technology either. This world's already evolving on it's own and I have no interest in causing chaos and imbalance to it. I have every intention to keep my word on this matter so there is little reason to fear me. Understand that I will fight if I have to defend myself, and I will retaliate if I deem it to be needed, respect my neutrality and be diplomatic with me, then we will have no problems."

The silence afterwards was rather think for the moments that passed as everyone in Gromash Hold took into account what they had learned from the Spartan in those moments. There was lot that they had to think about in their own fashion.

Thrall decided that they had time to discuss all this at a later date and replied.

"Very well then, I take your word for it as you have proven yourself to be a highly capable warrior with great honor and skill. The fact remains that you have helped the Horde in saving those of our faction without any hesitation. Because of these things, I would like to offer you and your Night Elf companions any hospitality that we can offer here in Orgrimmar."

John then recalled the offer given by Tarkell and decided to see if that could be honored with the Warchief's permission.

"One of your Shamans, Tarkell, the father of Nashkar who's family I saved wished to offer me accommodations if I so wish it, does that meet your approval Warchief?"

Thrall grinned at that, he was familiar with Tarkell as he had been the first of the new Shamans when he and the Horde finally freed themselves of the Alliance internment camps. The former warrior was wise and very capable and would no doubt be a good person for the Spartan to get to know their culture and history more.

"Of course Spartan, I shall send word to Tarkell to expect us, I welcome you and your companions to Orgrimmar and hope that you enjoy your stay here, follow the rules of my people and we shall get along just fine."

John nodded at that, but he was wary as he spotted a glare being directed at him Garrosh, and there was a very mysterious smile coming from Sylvanas. Had she been a living breathing being, he would not have bothered too much. But since she was Undead, something about that smile was rather unsettling to the Spartan.

Jaina decided to have some time to speak to the Master Chief before she got back to her duties in Theramore Isle, she wanted to congratulate him on his successful efforts and the duel, and to warn him to be wary, while she had absolute faith in Thrall, Cairne, Baine, Varok, Dranosh, Lonetree, Eitrigg, Rehgar, and Vol'jin, she was not too trusting of Sylvanas and while Lor'themar was an honorable sort, it was better that she warned the Spartan to be wary either way of the two leaders of the Horde.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay, for some reason, either a short or an animal hell bent on mischief or another had somehow cut the fiber optic cable to my internet system so I was really delayed in getting a new chapter ready.

And to add to my woes, a nearly full day blackout had drained my town of power due to some short in the power transmission lines. It's back now but I lost a lot of valuable time to make adjustments and alterations so I apologize once more for that.

…

Anyway, with it back I get more data and have some fun in making the rest of my chapters for this story. We have the results of the battle between John and Garrosh, you can bet that Garrosh will not be the least happy with what happened to him in that battle with the Spartan and naturally he will try to avenge himself on the Spartan in some fashion or another. I hope the fight was to everyone's liking since it's been some time since I did a one on one battle between two characters. It's good, then I am happy, if not then tell me what I did wrong.

By the way, for your information, we have two more parts before we hit chapter 10 of this story and when I make that chapter, this starts the part where the Burning Crusade takes place and this is also where the Master Chief will be making his way to meet the Draenei and there we will have a very interesting situation as Velen will meet the Spartan for the very first time.

How will that meeting go?

On the next chapter, we get to have John and company learn more of the Horde and the Orcs in question, next there will be a trip to the troll's own home and then a trip to Thunder Bluff, I've held off going to Undercity and Silvermoon City for now as I need to look at the maps of said locations to get a feel for each place.

Also in the chapter after this one I will go to Stormwind again to have John talk to Varian, Tirion, and Bolvar to show his full story, we might even meet Vereesa Windrunner and her husband Rhonin as well.

Afterwards, we get to go to Ironforge and we might have a trip to the Draenei capital afterwards, that way we complete the Alliance area. We might even have some new members join the Master Chief, both from the Horde and the Alliance as they will serve as representatives of their respective races as you can bet that their leaders will want to keep an eye on the Chief. The Night Elves are already covered and so are the Blood Elves, which just leaves the Humans, the Dwarves, Gnomes, the Draenei, the Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and yes…even the Forsaken.

One thing is for sure, the Dawn is about to get really crowded!

Also I would like to mention that someone had asked me in a review before if John and Cortana with help Cairne in dealing with Magatha and her Grimtotem Tribe of Tauren. They will, and in a very special way that will bring a powerful blow to her ambitions and naturally, when she finds out his involvement, will earn the Spartan her anger for spoiling her plans to rule the Tauren.

What is that special plan that I have in mind? If I tell, where's the suspense there in the whole story then?

So as much as I hate it, you have to wait and see just what I have in mind for that exact moment and event okay?

And as I promised, with Chapter 10, this fic will be on hold as I will be updating my other stories as best I can, who know, I might even give ten chapters per story at that point. That's all that I will say on the matter so just relax okay?

Bye!


	16. Chapter 16

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I yet again state that I own nothing that is related to Bungie or Blizzard so let's leave it at that.

Chapter 9

Part 3

Residence…

( ): Thoughts

…

In Orgrimmar…

John and his companions were currently resting in what was the home of Nashkar's father Tarkell. It was not a very large place but it was cozy and seemed to be favor a more utilitarian place, in fact, it was more of a barracks than a dwelling place. And truth be told, the Chief was already feeling right at home here. The elderly Shaman was currently working on some scrolls and placing them in order before he came over to speak to them.

Thrall had been the one to bring them here along with an escort of the Kor'kron Guard and as soon as they arrived, the Warchief bid them farewell for now as he still had many duties to take care of, they were not alone as Jaina was with them as the Archmage had accompanied them to the house. Tarkell saw the human mage and bowed in greeting.

"Hail to you Jaina Proudmoore, I was told the expect the Spartan and his companions, I was not aware that you were coming yourself."

"I apologize, but there is a matter than I need to take care of with the Spartan."

"I see, well then, I believe you must be tired from the day's events, the rooms of my house are well cleaned and you may rest here if you wish."

The Night Elves showed some level of trepidation at the idea but they were tired, not from overworking or any of the sort, but due to the heat and stress of the day. The barren lands of Central Kalimdor were not usually patrolled or inhabited by their kindred so it was not surprising that they were not used to the heat and environment. John noted that and hoped that his companions would take the offer and rest here, Cortana herself didn't have to worry about that as the MJOLNIR had the ability to transform urine into portable drinking water, but she could see that the Night Elves needed to rest as she spoke to John.

"I believe it would be best that Kaelyn and the others rest for now, they look rather tired from what they have experienced already."

John looked at the three Night Elves and saw the same thing and spoke to them.

"You three need to rest for now, so don't worry about the rooms and get some rest."

Kaelyn looked at him and nodded as she and the others walked into the house of the Shaman and it was also there that Erin and her companions decided to go and grab some supplies for the moment as well as get some more information from the various sources they could find in the city, Erin most of all wanted to get some fresh news from the rest of the world. This left the Spartan alone with Jaina as the Shaman helped direct the Night Elves to the rooms.

Jaina then looked about and spoke to the Spartan.

"You've made quite the impression here in Orgrimmar I see."

John shrugged his shoulders without any problem and that amused the Archmage and ruler of Theramore Isle but she focused on what she needed to do for this day in warning the Spartan to be wary of both Lor'themar and Sylvanas.

"By the way, I know that I might not need to say this due to your experience and training, but be wary of Lor'themar, and Sylvanas."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Lor'themar is not too much of a concern but he is a power player and does what he can to get an advantage for his people. He is not all bad in truth, but it would be best that you keep you're eyes and ears open just in case. Sylvanas on the other hand is a different matter, she is not to be easily trusted and I know for a fact that Thrall was rather reluctant to have her and the Forsaken merge with the Horde."

"What exactly can you tell me about Sylvanas? It' sounds like you know her."

Jaina then filled John in on the details and she had no doubt in her mind Cortana as well. She told them of the Banshee Queen's past. She had been the Ranger General of Silvermoon and was Lor'themar's superior in the past and she was part of the Windrunner family. She had been the one who fought with Arthas when he became a Death Knight and led the Scourge into Quel'Thalas to resurrect a former Mage named Kel'Thuzad.

She told the Spartan that Sylvanas lost and was tortured and mutilated and had her soul placed back into her body in a whirlwind of torment, hatred, and despair. Thus she was reborn into a Banshee under the control of Arthas and had helped with the conquest of her home, and had been helping in the destruction of Lordaeron's remaining humans, but when the previous Lich King began to lose his power, Sylvanas regained her free will, along with other Scourge, eventually they fought back and she led them to claim Lordaeron as the own with it's sewers becoming the Undercity.

"I know that she deserves a chance for she was subjected to such a fate, but I have a deep feeling in myself that she still has hatred and bitterness to the rest of the world for what she had to put through and coming back as a member of the Undead, there's no telling what she has in her mind towards the other races. And now that she knows of you and what you will be able to do in battle, she might plan something of her own."

John understood Jaina's concerns and he had to give her credit for taking the risk to tell him these things.

"I'll keep that in mind Lady Proudmoore."

The blonde woman smiled and activated her teleport spell to get back to Theramore to take back her duties in running the island nation and that allowed the Spartan to head back into the house.

…

As soon as he got there, he scanned the house itself and found to the be fairly cozy though hardly artistic in appearance. He placed that aside as he spotted Tarkell walking into the area and the old Orc spoke.

"You're Night Elf companions are currently resting in the rooms I have prepared and I have prepared the room for a good meal and some snacks before the main meal itself, I don't get as many guests as I like but I make due so you will have to excuse me if the food is not much."

"I'll be fine."

Tarkell chuckled at that and spoke.

"You're very cryptic at times when you wish to be so human, would you care indulge an old Orc like myself in conversation? I will be willing to serve as your guide here in the city of my people and in turn, you may learn what you need about the Orcs."

"Fair enough."

…

Later…

John looked at Tarkell with some level of interest as he listened to the elderly Orc talk about some of the things he had seen. Namely concerning the time when the Orcs began to make their move to escape from the internment camps. While he had been told by Tarkell's son about the whole situation, having a more personal talk from the elderly Orc who was there was a lot more thorough in his mind. And it seemed that he was right on target this time around as he managed to get a very good idea what happened to the Orcs after the Second War from a person on the ground.

"You were there when Thrall took on the armor and wielded the Doom hammer after Orgrim was killed?"

Tarkell nodded.

"Yes I was…and for me, it was different. For many of my fellow Orcs, it was the sight of a new Warchief taking command of us after the death of Orgrim Doomhammer, but in my eyes, Thrall was a step in the right direction. In that moment, I knew we were free, not just from the Alliance, but from the Legion itself for we have embraced who we once were as we were to be led by the newest Shaman to rise among our ranks ever since our corruption. We would never submit to them ever again and neither will be their slaves or anyone else's."

"I see…"

The two were currently sitting down on the floor with thick rugs below them and there were some bowls of fruits, edible herbs, roots, and some cooked meat on a nearby table. They were not alone completely as Cortana was in the MJOLNIR, recording everything but that was kept secret either way. For the moment, the Night Elves were currently resting in three of the rooms in the Shaman's home. Ever since the death of his mate, Tarkell had lived alone as his son had his own home in Orgrimmar, he valued the silence though welcomed company if he had visitors as he needed to spend time in reflection as well as meditation.

John found the veteran Orc to be a rather amiable sort and also fairly easy to get along with as the Orc seemed to have a very open mind on several key matters. This was naturally due to his old age and the fact that he was still very much alive after all that had happened to his race, and John felt more at ease with veteran warriors than civilians.

John then decided to ask something.

"Tarkell, you're son told me about the alliance between Jaina and Thrall, can you elaborate?"

The elderly Orc smiled a bit and laughed.

"I am sorry to say this Spartan, but I know little of that event in the Third War, I was serving in a different front at the time. I was however there when the Horde had to deal with Jaina's father Daelin Proudmoore. That was a sad and very bitter day for all of us, though I have no doubt that it was harder for Jaina herself. After all she turned against her own father, the man who gave her life and all, she may have proven her friendship and allegiance to Thrall and the Horde…but I wonder if she didn't carry any wounds from the fact that she helped in the death of her father."

"If you wish to know more, then I believe it would be best if you spoke to Thrall directly, though I believe that he might be a bit reluctant to speak of such a subject."

"I see…are these the only Orcs in Azeroth?"

The Shaman shook his head and replied.

"No, there are other clans of Orcs, both here, and in our former home-world though I know little of the latter clans' fates, but the clans I know of here have been twisted greatly and can no longer be considered as part of the New Horde."

"Really?"

"Yes, those clans here in Azeroth were the Blackrock, the Black Tooth Grin, and the Dragonmaw Clans. We refer to them the Dark Horde now and they are no longer our brethren, not that they would want to be nor would they wish to be. There are rumors of the Burning Blade Clan to be still alive and of course, you've met the Twilight's Hammer Clan."

"Why do you call them the Dark Horde?"

"There is a reason, unlike the Horde I am part of and the faction recognized by the Alliance who had rediscovered and embraced our shamanistic past, these clans see things differently. They believe that the true destiny of the Horde and the Orcs was to be the harbingers of death and conquest the Burning Legion wanted us to be. They revel in demonic power and corruption, so much so that they believe that they are true Orcs and we of the New Horde are merely weaklings and cowards. They gain forces through the Orcs who revel in the memories of the past when they worshiped demons and drank the blood of their foes. The worst are those Burning Blade Orcs…their minds so twisted by blood lust and the desire for death that they are not even worthy of being called Orcs."

John saw that despite his calm tone in speaking, Tarkell showed great anger and resentment as he spoke of his former kin. The Shaman controlled himself somewhat and spoke once more.

"Though I have no doubt that you are able to hold your own my friend and you have bested the Twilight's Hammer Clan twice now, do not underestimate these clans if you ever meet them. The only members of the Burning Blade that had broken free from that demonic past serve the Horde as Blade-masters now and they had sworn never to fall again…"

John decided that they should stop the conversation for now as this was a sore subject for his host.

"I guess we can stop for now, there's still a lot to do and there is plenty of time for conversation later.."

"I agree, there is much to do and we have to get the meal ready for your other guests."

Both went to work as John decided to help his host in readying a meal, as he wanted to show that he was not here merely to take up space, drink and eat without helping his host in some fashion or another. The food was soon ready and he went to awaken the others. The three Night Elves were soon awake from their rest and found the beds to be all right for them. The meal was similar to the food that the Spartan and Tarkell had, but was of a higher quality. As the night began, the Spartan and his companions had their meal with him removing his helmet to eat his food while occasionally speaking to Tarkell who answered any of the questions that he was putting forward.

…

The Master Chief and his company spent the next few days of their time in Orgrimmar to see the city more directly and to also get a feel for the areas that he had not visited yet. Naturally the Spartan was not alone as Tarkell was his guide through Orgrimmar and his Night Elf companions usually kept close to him unless they were dealing with the Tauren who were there. The Blood Elves had no problems in that area as they were part of the Horde, but they decided to take some time away from the others to get new gear and supplies.

Erin had not upgraded her tools and weapons for some time now so she was naturally eager to get replacement gear while Janna and Tannis needed to purchase new supplies and fix their weapons, armor, and their tools as well as they wanted that they had all of their weapons and armor up to standard. For now this gave the Night Elves free reign to be with the Spartan and both female Night Elves were all right with that. They were still not comfortable with the whole idea of being surrounded by the Orcs and the others of the Horde with the exception of the Tauren. All the while, John along with Cortana were gathering all the information that they could, while the A.I busied herself with the construction of an Orcish language translation program.

Going into the Valley districts of the City with the Shaman explaining the locations carefully was a good thing to the Spartan as this helped him get a more thorough idea of the layout of the city as well as the distribution and allocation of people, resources and skills. As far as he could figure by observing the Orcs as well as listening to Tarkell, the culture of the Orcs had some similarities to some of the human civilizations in Earth's ancient past.

The Orcs valued honor above all, this took to honoring the clan as a whole, then to their own family and then to their self. Hospitality is a high honor and is well respected among them. The Orcs also took pride in their skills in battle, Orcs with many wounds and scars while still being alive are symbols of courage and honor among their kindred. The Orcs also took a great deal of time to focus on the needs of day to day survival, evidence of the lands and conditions they happen to live in. They also revered the elements and that was the reason why Shamans were held in high regard by their people after taking back their past heritage..

All members of the Orc race were required to pull their own weight and contribute to the health, prosperity, and growth of the race as a whole and as such, all Orcs, young and old, male or female are required to do their best in such matters. Anyone who was weak in many ways and deemed to have skills of little value to the Orc race was deemed as being Peons and if lower, they were exiled from the Horde completely which from what he gathered was the worst humiliation any Orc could face.

He had seen the Peons himself and could see how they were treated by their fellow Orcs, almost like a minority despite the fact that it was they who toiled in harvesting the gold, raw metals, wood, food stuffs, and more that the Horde needed to function. This kind of treatment was common in the records of ancient mankind, however he noted that Thrall's clansmen known as the Frostwolves were more compassionate to the Peons, while Garrosh's clan of the Warsong treated them badly, showing to him that not all the Orcs mistreated the Peons while some cling to past traditions and practices.

He also noted that the Orcs had a strict way of training, befitting their culture and nature, along with their physical builds and form. Even though he bested a number of Orcs already and defeated Garrosh, he had no problem seeing how the Orcs' physical strength, speed, and power can be used to deadly effect in battle. The Orcs prized also strength in all forms, as well as independence, integrity, courage, and initiative while also not being above killing other races when needed to defend their people.

There were many traditions and that would take time to catalogue for him and Cortana, but overall, the Orc society was similar to primitive human cultures back on Earth which when looked blow the surface was more complex than first seen. They valued valor over cunning as long as valor does not end in defeat and disaster, they respected their elders and ancestors, valued survival over artistic achievement, they do not apologize for past actions nor demand apologies from their foes, and distrusted arcane magic along with those using Fel Magic, though they were not yet hostile towards arcanists as a whole.

Along the way, the Night Elves were not too trusting and the Spartan had no problem knowing the cause, as he had read the records of the Night Elves. During his trips to the places that served as the archives of the Orcs, he was accompanied by Tarkell and on occasion he was joined by Thrall himself, the Warchief was more than willing to talk to the Spartan and even to Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves, he naturally questioned the Warchief about his choice of actions when talking to the Night Elves.

Thrall replied that it was a mistake in his judgment to have placed the Warsong Clan in charge of the operations in Ashenvale, he had hoped that by being out of battle, Grom would not be tempted by the Demon Curse that still held their people in it's grip in the past. In truth he found that his people's respect for the elements and the Night Elves' reverence for nature was strongly similar in many ways, which was why he was personally saddened that they were now enemies, he made it clear that he didn't apologize for the actions taken by Grom and his clan when they did what they did as he had given them the order to go to the ancient forest.

However, had he learned of their people himself and had been there to help with the construction of the settlement in the past, then the death of Cenarius would have been avoided and things would have been different even in a small fashion. He however stated that with all that happened in the past, he knew things could not be changed and he accepted that without reservation, but at least they now knew that not all the Orcs were savages and close minded brutes.

As time passed, the Spartan had been able to gather more and more information while moving along with Tarkell and learning much from the Shaman and he would speak as well to Nashkar and his family with his mate being a lot more cordial than she had been the very first time they had met one another. The Orc's own children had become slightly more cordial to the Spartan as well though they still kept their distance from the Night Elves. He also saw just how the Orcs lived their lives to survive from day to day.

John knew that there was still a great deal of things that he needed to learn and that meant talking to the others. He knew that with the needs of his people and the Horde getting most of Thrall's attention, he doubted that he would be able to have a long conversation with the Warchief. That meant that he was going to have to talk with the other high ranking leaders of the Orcs themselves, though he had no idea on who to speak to first.

Tarkell was more than willing to point him to the said Orcs in question and John was more than ready to make the move to speak to them.

….

The Spartan looked at the simple house that was the current residence of one of the respected Orc veterans and one of Thrall's advisors. From what he gleamed of Eitrigg from Tarkell, he was the only Blackrock Clan Orc to be part of the New Horde and was actually friends with the paladin Tirion Fordring himself. This was something that got the Spartan's attention a good deal as this friendship between sworn enemies was worth looking into.

He knocked on the door and for a moment due to the silence before him, wondered if the Orc was not present, that is until he heard a voice speak out in the Orcish tongue though this time Cortana's translation program for the Orcish language.

"Come in."

The Spartan did so and he as well as his companions were now in the Orc's home, like all the homes he had seen so far, it was a simple but well built structure, utilitarian in both design and function

Eitrigg was currently cooking a large roast of meat on a spit when he looked to see the Spartan walking towards him with the Night Elves following him and so were the Blood Elves with their new gear. The Orc veteran turned back to his roasted food and could see that it was ready for him to eat. But he decided to speak to the new arrivals only this time he reverted to the Common tongue for more chances to speak to the Spartan.

"Greetings to you Spartan, what brings you and your companions to my humble abode?"

"I came here to speak to you about some important matters."

The Orc laughed a bit and replied.

"I see, come, I have just finished cooking my lunch for this day, let us sit down and chat, I could use the company."

John and the others did so and he removed his helmet as well. Eitrigg brought several knives and gave them to his guests. As they ate the roast, Eitrigg spoke to them about himself and his past. Like Tarkell, he too was a veteran of all three wars though unlike Tarkell, Eitrigg remained a warrior and was actually quite skilled in his very own right and had done much in the war during his younger days. He spoke about his own experiences when he was still part of the Blackrock Clan of Orcs and why he decided to abandon his clan.

He told them of how he had lost his sons not to the enemy, but to the petty rivalries between their own leaders, his sons were strong and skilled but they were used as expendable pawns by their leaders, all for their own petty desires. They were told to pull back from the lines, but the other leader, desiring more standing in the old Horde sent them and their comrades back to the slaughter despite the futility of it all. That coupled with the corruption and hatred that seeped into the Clans of the Horde convinced him to leave , feeling that in the end, his people would doom themselves.

He told them of his time in his self imposed isolation as well as dodging Alliance patrols after the Second War, and how he met and fought Tirion before. He mentioned how he saw the Paladin as only an enemy until the collapse of the tower and how he saved him. In turn, both he and Tirion began to talk and learn from one another. Tirion vowed on his honor that he would do everything to keep him safe, and he did. He told them of how much Tirion lost to honor his debt, he risked being branded a traitor to be killed when he rescued him and even healed when he was supposed to been stripped of his powers. There he met Thrall and was overjoyed to see the new Horde embracing the ways of Shamanism once more and called Tirion his human brother.

Eitrigg smiled at the memories and spoke again.

"Ever since then I have been proud to stand with my people once more, no longer the pawns of the Legion and free to start anew. Still I only wish that my sons were alive to see this day, I would not know how they would react, but to have them were with me would have been worth it."

"Regardless, I have heard many good things about my human brother, I am sad that he had lost his son to those fanatics of the Scarlet Crusade, but I am also proud that he reformed his Order. Though the Knights of the Silver Hand were great enemies of my people in the past, they are brave and valued warriors worthy of respect. Besides, if ever the time comes to face the evils in the world and beyond it, I have no doubts that the new Paladins are ready for that day."

John nodded at that and ventured a question.

"If Tirion asks for your aid, would you give it?"

Eitrigg nodded without fail and replied.

"I would give my aid and my life gladly for my human brother, my debt to him is great and any aid I can offer to him, I will give so freely."

John could tell that Eitrigg was serious about that decision and he couldn't find anything wrong with it, the Orc then turned to look at the Night Elves and the Blood Elves who traveled with the Spartan and he spoke to them as well.

"I hope that the meal is to your liking, I do not usually receive guests from the Alliance, only members of the Horde."

Kaelyn knew that she was treading on serious ground here and despite her still lingering distrust of the Orcs, she decided to be at least cordial to the Orc who willingly gave them food and shelter here in his own home.

"It is, though I must admit that being here among your people is…making me uneasy."

Eitrigg nodded at that as he was aware of the situation concerning the Night Elves and his people.

"I understand that, and I suppose your fellow Night Elves feel the same way despite the fact you are all guests of the Warchief. Do not worry, while you are here and in the Warchief's protection, you are safe. However, I assume that you're human friend has many other questions to ask does he not?"

John nodded a bit and they spent the rest of the day talking with one another until Eitrigg then told them to go meet with Varok for more answers if they wished to ask them. John agreed and decided to speak to the remaining Orcs that he could speak to before he would be taking his leave to visit the Trolls and then the Tauren, he decided to hold off travel plans to the Horde lands where the Blood Elves were taking their residence or the Undead were having their capital city.

However, he had a feeling that things were going to get very interesting either way.

…

The next day…

The Spartan journeyed to the Valley of Honor as he had been told that he would be able to find both Varok and Dranosh there, the Night Elves had decided to rest for the day and so did the Blood Elves so the Spartan was on his own while they remained in Tarkell's home. The Spartan trusted that his companions were in good hands as he made his way to the Valley. He was not disappointed at all as he was quick to spot Varok currently overseeing the training of several younger Orcs of both genders while his son was also doing the same on another side of the Valley. The elder Orc turned when he noted that his recruits were looking at another direction than his own. He nodded a bit as he saw the reason for the actions of the young recruits and spoke to them in Orcish to continue with their training.

He then moved towards the Spartan and spoke to him in greeting while using the Common tongue.

"Greetings to you Spartan, I am honored to meet you once again."

"I can say the same to you, Varok Saurfang."

The two faced one another and Varok looked at bit to see the recruits he had been training still looking at the Spartan, he growled a bit at the way they were looking at an honored guest of the Warchief then barked an order in Orcish, the younger Orcs, not wishing to court the wrath of the legendary warrior followed what he wanted them to do. Once they were out the way, Varok snorted as he looked at them.

"Youngsters need to be told what to do at times, and that can certainly get annoying. At any rate, I take it you have a reason for being here?"

The Spartan nodded at that as he spoke to the Orc.

"I was curious about a number of things concerning your people' namely spanning the whole three wars that your race partook in, I've already talked with Tarkell and Eitrigg, but they recommended that I talk to other such as yourself."

Varok snorted a bit at that though the snort was not made as a hostile action.

"You seem to be very interested in something that had happened long ago, and since you have talked with the others who were there, I am curious why you would want to talk with me of all people."

"I merely want to learn everything I can so I can make the best decision when the time comes."

"Hah! If only the other younger Orc pups had your willingness to learn and make the right decisions in the future with what we teach them, then the Horde would have great leaders to lead it when we all go and join our ancestors Spartan. Very well, if there are any gaps in what you have learned, I'll do my best to fill in those gaps."

Varok then told John the Horde's rise through his own views, he told them of the war they waged with the Draenei when they were duped by the Legion and by Gul'dan and his cabal of warlocks. He recalled how he had been a ruthless and brutal fighter as well as a tactician, and how he became Orgrim Doomhammer's second in command, and how

John spoke then to Varok who watched his son training the younger Orcs under his command with pride for his only son, The Master Chief had noted a considerable difference between father and son and that was naturally their skin coloration. He noted that a vast majority of the Horde Orcs and even those Orcs who were not part of the Horde had green skin while a handful of them, even Garrosh had brown skin.

"I noticed something different between you and your son Varok, you both have different skin color for some reason, and after what I've seen so far here in Orgrimmar, this seems not to be a rare case."

Varok turned and was silent for a moment or two and then spoke.

"What you have seen is a reminder of the past, a past I personally wish never happened, but must accept either way. You know of our fall into the hands of the Legion already do you not?"

"I do, I had my suspicions but I preferred to learn more before I make a serious decision."

The elder Orc nodded in approval as he looked at his son briefly and then gestured for John to sit with him on a large stone bench covered in leather and furs. The Spartan did so and they sat together while Varok spoke about what the Spartan noticed about him and his son.

"The reason I have green skin and my son does not is because of the same curse that befell our people when we were swayed by Gul'dan to drink the blood of that accursed Pit Lord Mannaroth and become slaves to the Legion. When we took to the practice of using warlock magic, demon worshipping and partaking in demon fueled blood lust our skin colors changed and our eyes changed as well. Even those of us Orcs who never partook in those things were affected by the use of Warlock magic as well. These changes happened to us before we came to this world and when we did, we were now the green skinned beings the humans hated and feared long before."

"Even after our defeat by the Alliance, the changes we undertook in our lands long ago remained with us and have served to those who remember and those who understand the past to never forget what happened to our people when we allowed ourselves to fall into the clutches of the Legion. Even those like the Warchief who had never been touched or had used Warlock magic, cannot escape it. Only those who had never been taken into the Horde or taken the blood of demons remained free and retained our original form and appearance. They are called the Mag'har and we hope that with them by our side we can rebuild our people anew."

"My son was born before I crossed the Dark Portal, after his mother gave birth to him, I vowed to her that he would never follow the dark path and he would be kept safe. I gave him to the elders of Garadar, the Mag'har settlement for safe keeping. He eventually came to me and I was happy to see that he had grown up to be a strong and brave warrior, and I am proud that that he fights with the same skill as I and his father did, and unlike other younger Orcs, he is not as quick tempered than most."

"I see, I also want to know something about the Warsong Clan."

"What of them?"

"You seem to have some level of distrust towards them for some reason or another. Why is that the case?"

Varok grunted and replied.

"It's not just the clan as a whole Spartan, it is their leader Garrosh Hellscream, I distrust them and him for their actions as of late, namely when it takes into consideration their aggressive behavior towards the Alliance race of the Night Elves. That young one is too much of a firebrand like his father and I wonder at times why he heads his father's clan at so young an age."

"You worry about Garrosh a good deal?"

Varok nodded seriously while looking at the sky above them before looking at the Master Chief.

"I do, there is no doubt that he is as brave and as skilled as his father Grommash, and he is as dedicated to the Orc race as a whole, he led the defense of the Mag'har settlement for years as well so there is no doubt that he knows how to fight. He has many of the traits in him that was also in his father Grommash, but those same traits worry me as well. Make no mistake of my words Spartan, I have great respect for Grom for he did free all of us Orcs from the chains of the Burning Legion, but there is no denying the fact that he was the first to fall to the corruption and drink the blood of Mannaroth. He willingly doomed our race to becoming servants of the Legion because of his lust for power, battle, and death. When we fell and were taken as prisoners by the Alliance, he and his clan escaped capture and he fought on with his curse while keeping his clan free of capture, after we were free from the Alliance and began to embrace our old heritage, I and many other veterans hoped for the best as Grom was one of Thrall's closest friends and the young Warchief helped calm Grom's soul."

"But when we left the lands of the humans to go to Kalimdor, he couldn't resist the curse when it came back to whisper dark promises in his soul. He attacked the humans under Jaina's command even when not given the order to do so by Thrall. And naturally you know of his war with the Night Elves and his taking of the blood of Mannaroth once more, and damning his clan to serving Mannaroth once more. That was a dark day for us all when we discovered the truth of what happened to him and the Warsong Clan, and we had to fight them in order to free Grom, there the Warchief learned the truth from Grom when he was still corrupted on how he and the other leaders damned themselves for power. We rescued Grom in the end and freed him from the curse. He apologized deeply to Thrall, the young Warchief was not very happy with this and then they traveled together to face Mannaroth. So many lives wasted all because of Grom's actions and his own decision to drink the blood of that accursed Pit Lord!"

John could see that anger there in Varok's face, having developed a level of understand Orc facial expressions. However, he knew a bit of the history of Grom himself and spoke to Varok on the matter.

"Yet you cannot deny that his last act of fighting saved your people."

Varok's face returned to normal as he knew that what the Spartan said was the truth and he nodded slowly to that.

"Yes, I cannot deny that at all, I knew little of the final battle as I was never there, only Warchief Thrall and Grom fought with Mannaroth and the Warchief does not speak of it often. I know little of what transpired in Grom's mind that day, though a part of me worried that Mannaroth would twist him like before, to turn him against the Warchief and become a servant of the Legion once again. But like you said, I am proud that he chose to fight it and defeat Mannaroth, turning the curse against that demon and freed us all from it, his last act to finally free us and give us the chance to start anew. He deserves that respect and honor for that last act of his own free will at the very least. And I hope that he will be welcomed by the spirits and our Ancestors back into paradise, with the dark whispers in his soul gone forever with that demon curse."

Varok then sighed as he knew what he would say next would show more of his doubts on the matter concerning Hellscream's son.

"I only hope that Garrosh will not ruin what his father has done by taking his actions too far, we are no longer as powerful as we once were, and we cannot afford to fight in wars that will cost us dearly in terms of people, supplies, and time. He has his father's lust for battle and I will not let that drag us into another war. I might be called a traitor, but if that pup even dreams of starting another war, I will make sure it will be his last mistake"

"I do not use the Blood Curse as an excuse, like Grom himself, I took partook the blood of my own free will. I will not hesitate to fight for my people, to defend our honor, and to defend the Horde…but I will not let anyone start a war ever again, I will do everything in my power never to let a warmonger drag the Horde into a needless war with either words, actions, both…or even by the steel of my axe."

John could tell that Varok was serious in that and he could respect that a good deal. The two warriors said nothing for a while until Varok decided to be the one who started the conversations this time around.

"I remember those days well and while I make no excuses for my actions, I still hear them Spartan, the cries of women and children, Draenei and otherwise, even the screams of Orc children when I fought against my own in the grip of the curse. But the cries of the Draenei…that lasts longer. The screams of the swine being slaughtered in Jaggedswine Farm remind me and many of my fellow veterans of their cries. I did my best to help my fellow veterans with the horrors of their actions, but I…I have never been able to forget as easily as I had hoped. That's why I do not eat pork at all, it may seem strange to some for our people eat meat more than other foods, but that is what I do to forget to some degree what I have done.

John nodded at that, considering what he had learned so far and from his own experience, it was to be expected to some extent that veterans had nightmares and recollections of past things that weighed on them. He had seen veteran UNSC marines with that kind of problem, his friend Avery J. Johnson being one of them, and he had his fair share of bad memories as well.

"We can't change the past, but we can do what we are able to do here and now. It's not much, but at least we can show that we can change, we can grieve about the past later, focus on the here and now. It's an old saying that I heard of, but it works well."

"I can agree with that saying Spartan, at any rate, I have enjoyed this discussion, truth be told, you are the first human I have spoken these things to. That in itself is a rare thing, also I personally consider you to be a good asset had you joined the Horde. Though you are human, neutral and you have no ties to the Horde, if you ever decided to join us, I would gladly ask for your aid and support, considering the skills that you have as well as your experience and your open mindedness, you would make an excellent ally, human or not."

John shrugged at that and Dranosh walked over to his father and the Spartan, the young Orc smiled in a wide fashion as he then asked the Spartan if he would not mind a simple competition of throwing axes at targets. The Spartan agreed to the challenge and joined Dranosh into the range. The Spartan looked at the target before him and the smaller axes and tested them carefully, determining their weight, balance, shape, and sharpness. As the competition started, the Orcs were impressed that the Spartan was willing to show his skills and they were certainly good.

Varok could tell that his son was developing a friendly rivalry with the Spartan even though the Spartan was a lot different from the normal humans that he had heard about. Dranosh didn't mind that and respected the human from beyond the stars and that was good sign to Varok. He only wished that Garrosh would at least try to get along with the humans just as his son was. He wasn't naturally going to hold his breath on the matter however.

As the Spartan and his group stayed for a while longer, Thrall had been in discussion with his advisors on how to best deal with the Spartan. Thrall himself had developed a level of respect for the human warrior and decided that it would be best that the Horde left him in peace as he was not an enemy and had no prior history with the Horde, so they themselves had little reason to suspect him of being hostile. Garrosh naturally was against the idea of leaving the Spartan alone, stating that they couldn't afford to trust him as of yet, he wanted them to have the human watched just in case he decided to ally with the Alliance and fight them since he was too dangerous a being to be ignored by the Horde.

He stated that the idea that they should ignore him was a mistake. Garrosh had been very much against the Spartan, even after nearly half a month after his defeat, the Chieftain of the Warsong Clan was still nursing a great grudge towards the Spartan and wanted that the Horde keep an eye on the human from the stars.

Thrall took that into account and naturally saw that Garrosh was still angry for his loss as he had been getting reports of the Warsong Orcs still treating the Spartan and his company with some measure of hostility and Garrosh was more than willing to show his discontent in words and action, though he hardly took direction action towards the Master Chief himself and neither did his clan at the moment. The Warchief however knew that Garrosh DID have some truth in his actions. As much as he wanted to trust the Master Chief, he needed to be assured that the Spartan was watched by the Horde, though in this case, by his people and not just the Blood Elves.

However, he decided to speak to the Spartan about this matter directly as he needed to see if the Spartan would agree to having…observers from his people in his location, and quite possibly from the other Horde races as well.

…

John was currently reading a scroll filled with Orcish runes and allowing Cortana to copy the information into her core. There were other scrolls with him as well while Kaelyn, Sandra, White Claw, and Jarrod were currently resting after a hard day of training with him and their Blood Elf companions in the Valley of Honor. They had done so to keep themselves sharp and ready as well as keep themselves from getting bored from what they were doing right now. Naturally they were in Tarkell's home and the Shaman was out on his own personal duties with the others of his order.

He then turned when he heard the arrival of an individual, judging by the footfalls he heard, this person in question wore armor and was not a Shaman, he reflexively reached for his Assault Rifle and turned slowly to look at the coming individual and he recognized it to be Thrall himself. The Spartan stood up and saluted the Orc leader in crisp military fashion, Thrall noted that and decided to do the same thing.

Once that was done, the Spartan spoke to the Warchief.

"Warchief Thrall, I wasn't expecting you to come here all of a sudden."

"I'm sorry if I made no mention of my arrival, there is an important matter which we needed to discuss in private, which was why I came here myself instead of sending a message to you."

Thrall sat down and so did John just as the others awakened and naturally they were surprised to see the Warchief there with them, they didn't interrupt and merely watched as Thrall turned his attention back to the Spartan himself.

"I have recently been in a number of discussions with my advisors, and while some of them are in agreement that we should respect your neutrality, not everyone was willing to let the matter of your presence slide."

"I take it the dissenting one is Garrosh?"

"The same, he stated that we should not have you return without being observed and watched by our people, lest you ally with the Alliance and become our enemy. While I personally believe that you are true to your word and so do many of those I trust, Garrosh's words, while not exactly friendly are not without some level of merit. There will be those among my people who might not take too kindly with you not being observed and to be shown that you are worthy of trust as a whole. You may have helped my people and the Horde, but not everyone is willing to trust you just yet."

John could understand that well enough, after all, even when they were defenders of humanity in the War with the Covenant and the Flood, he and his fellow Spartans were not exactly trusted by the forces of the UNSC and were called quite a number of things that were best not to be mentioned, not that he or they cared too much or anything. But it did annoy him at times when he was called as a freak or another.

"I know the feeling, so in simple terms, you want some members of your people to work with me and act as my liaisons to your race?"

"Yes, considering the fact that you're Night Elf companions followed you here and you already have an arrangement with High Priestess Tyrande shows that you have a cordial relationship with her people despite your neutrality. That is something I would like us to have with you, it might not make everyone happy, but it would be for the best as I know that neither of us gain anything if we were enemies."

"True, but I think it would be best that you should ask the permission of my Night Elf companions, remember that they still have their distrust for your people Warchief so the idea of Orcs in their lands might not sit very well with them, even if they happen to be in my base."

Thrall understood what John meant by that and directed his attention to Kaelyn, Sandra, and Jarrod and spoke to them.

"The Spartan speaks truth in that matter, I have to ask you, will you allow my people to assign some of them to watch over the Spartan in your lands? I assure you that I will only send those who are truly trustworthy and they will not be a burden to your people and the Spartan."

Kaelyn and her companions were silent about this matter and it was a serious decision for them, their people had never given up their desire to avenge Cenarius' death, and the idea of Orcs being in the lands of their people was not welcomed to say the least. However, they knew that the Master Chief was a man of honor, so far he had managed to work with the Blood Elves well enough so they had to trust him in the matter. Besides, as he was a neutral by choice, they didn't have much say on how he would do things when it concerned the other races of Azeroth.

She decided to give her reply.

"We will talk to High Priestess Tyrande on the matter, but if the Spartan is all right with it, then we will abide by it, after all, he is a neutral party and as he is well respected by the High Priestess, then he is free to agree to this or not."

Thrall nodded in agreement as he looked at the Spartan and both of them stood up as the Warchief spoke.

"Very well, I will send word of your decision to the others and I must state that if the rest of the Horde leaders learn of this arrangement, then they might ask to do the same, I have no doubt that Lor'themar already has his observers in place so that is hardly an issue at this point. So do not be surprised that when you decide to visit the other members of the Horde, they would no doubt assign some of their people to watch over you."

John nodded and both of them shook each other's hands and parted ways, John went back to his reading and was soon joined by his companions as they looked at the things he was looking that though only the Blood Elves understood the language as the Night Elves had little interest in learning the language of the Orcs. As soon as he was done with his readings, John told them that he not planned to visit the Trolls, but not before he would wait and see the results of the discussion that Thrall would have with the other members of the Horde.

…

Sure enough, Thrall began to discuss his decision to have several of his fellow Orcs to the rest of the Horde leaders in the meeting the next day. He explained that they were also able to that that option, however the Warchief reminded them of the stance that the Spartan was taking concerning his neutrality, and as such, they would have to choose members of their own race that had strong loyalty to them but also were not in any way threatening to the Master Chief's chosen neutrality. He also mentioned that those chosen have to follow the rules placed on them by the Spartan while they were in his land and to also avoid aggravating the Night Elves who's lands the Spartan happened to be taking residence in for the time being.

He mentioned that since there were already three Blood Elves with the Spartan then Lor'themar didn't have any reason to assign anymore unless it was needed for other important reasons. The Blood Elf leader agreed with that and decided to take the time to see if there was a need for other members of his race to take residence with the Spartan. In truth, he had a small number in mind though he kept in mind to keep the number small, this was too delicate a chance for him to make a mistake and foul the waters so to speak

Cairne, Baine, Vol'jin, and Sylvanas nodded as well as they were now focusing on figuring out who among their race would they assign with the Spartan as their race's representative to the Spartan as well. Thrall then decided to give the Spartan more time for him and his group to remain in Orgrimmar until the decision of the other leaders was made.

…

Three days later, Thrall sent word to the Spartan and they once more had a meeting, though in this case it was with only him, his companions and Thralls advisors with the exception of Garrosh, he told the Master Chief that the other leaders had agreed to send to him a number of their own people to act as their representative. Cairne and his son had returned to Thunder Bluff in Mulgore to find those among their tribes that could be chosen for this mission.

The same could be said for Vol'jin and Lor'themar was thinking of sending another group of his people though in a small group to show that he and his people had no ulterior motive. Both John and Cortana mentally snorted at that, recalling Jaina's warning nearly a month before, but they didn't reveal anything at all for now. It was Sylvanas' plan to send some of her people that got the two's attention the most.

As they ended the meeting, John decided that his next step was to go to the village of the Trolls and since the Albatross was still in lockdown and was not harmed when they came to check it out, it was a good sign. That was when Thrall came on his own Wolf mount and there were a small group of Orcs with him. One John recognized to be Harg but the other three Orcs were unknown to him.

One was a male Orc who wore hard leathers as well as had a two headed axe on his back along with a powerful looking longbow with a large number of arrows there in a quiver, and he was accompanied by a black and silver furred wolf with blue war paint markings. On the Orc's armor was. Judging from what he could see, this male Orc was a Hunter like Sandra and this would be helpful in the long run as he was going to need all the help he can get.

The next two Orcs were female, he looked carefully at them as he had determined that the males and females had very different features. The female Orcs had a softer variant of the Orcish features, smaller lower teeth which were shaped like tusks, smoother skin, and less harsh bone structure though there was no denying that they were far from frail.

The first Orc female was dressed in leather armor and animal skins, judging from the way the others acted around her and understanding the meaning behind their actions, this female Orc was a Shaman like Thrall and Tarkell. The Orc had the usual raven black hair of her race and had her hair in elaborate braids with leather straps with tufts of wolf fur there in them as well as feathers and there on the neck was a necklace with a wooden amulet with the symbol of the Horde as a whole and was inlayed with thin copper as well. The female Shaman carried a spear that had a wide blade head and a series of short daggers that while ceremonial in appearance were no doubt well made and could be used in combat if needed by the female Shaman.

The last Orc female was dressed as a Warrior as she wore chainmail and plate-mail along with her carrying a long broad bladed spear as well as a dagger, a Longsword with Orcish runes on the middle of the blade and with wicked looking hilt guard, and a shield with elaborate Orcish runes that glowed red and were etched in black metal on the rim, there in the middle was a metal covering that was shaped into the form of an Orc skull and had spikes there in the middle as well. The female Orc had her hair in two tails and had them tied with leather straps which were held together by clasps of thin but strong iron as well.

Thrall greeted the Spartan at this point.

"Hail to you Spartan, these are the members of my race who shall accompany you. You are already familiar with Harg Steelfang; he came recommended by both Varok and Dranosh and since he seems to be willing to work with you, I believe that he will be a good representative. This is Igrim Dragonheart, one of our Shamans. She is capable as a fighter as well and will serve as the one who will be able to communicate with us if there is anything that be known to us while she is there in your location. This is Kargoth Bladewind, he is one of our best Hunters and has traveled to some of the furthest parts of the Horde lands and those that have not been touched by both the Horde and the Alliance so his information as well as his skills may be of you. And our last representative is Drogna Wildfury, one of our newest Warriors, she has great potential and also happens to be a former student of Varok Saurfang, she has served in the front-lines for several years both here and in Stranglethorn Vale, she has volunteered for this task."

Harg smiled as he was eager to actually see the Spartan in full combat while Igrim wanted to see what was it about this human that had sparked quite a lot of interest from many of her fellow Orcs as well as both the veteran Shaman Tarkell and even the Warchief himself who was considered one of the first Shamans in the new Horde and a skilled warrior as well.

Kargoth Bladewind also expressed this same interest though he was more concerned with the kind of dangers this armored human would be involved in, besides, this would be a good chance to put his skills to serve the Horde more personally. As for Drogna, she had arrived earlier and had been able to rest and recover from her travels, she then heard about this Spartan and was curious as to who he was as well as interested to see his skills as she heard that he had bested Garrosh Hellscream in a duel and had also won a level of respect from her teacher Varok.

It was then that the Blood Elf leader appeared through a portal and he smiled a bit towards the Spartan.

"Greetings, you can wager a guess why I am here Spartan, I have spoken to many of my advisors and while many of them have agreed that Erin, Janna and Tannis are more than able to hold their own, we have decided to dispatch several other of our kin to help with situations that you might find yourself in human."

Lor'themar moved away to reveal four more Blood Elves who no doubt were going to be there to join up with Erin and the others. Two of them appeared to be males while the other two were females. One of the female Elves was dressed in robes and carried a staff while having a elaborate tiara on her head to hold the dark raven black hair in place, and considering her choice of attire as well as the levels of arcane magic she was releasing with was similar though in a higher degree than Erin, there was no doubt in the Spartan's mind that she was a full Mage.

The next female appeared to be wearing robes and clothing that would normally be seen on those who were like Talia so the Master Chief was able to easily see that the Blood Elf was a Priestess, and the fact that she carried a mace as well as a number of potion bags on her person, she had long her hair which was colored deep silver in three tails held together by golden clips.

The two men were both dressed in armor and carried swords, and both looked like twin brothers with the only difference was that the left Blood Elf had his blonde hair in braids, while the other Blood Elf had his hair in two tails. Another key difference was the kinds of armor, one wore mail and was no doubt a Blood Knight, while the leather armor told the Master Chief that the other Blood Elf was also a Rogue like Erin was. John scanned them and he spotted them having magic in them as well so that didn't surprise him as he knew from what Erin had told him that all Blood Elves had magic in their blood.

Lor'themar then introduced the new arrivals starting with the men.

"The one before you Talen Starshadow, one of our agents who has been traveling to several locations that have yet to be uncovered by the Alliance and he has fought with a number of powerful foes and has much to offer to the need for intelligence. Next to him is his brother Kallis Starshadow, a veteran Blood Knight and is quite skilled in the arts of war as well as healing and support, he has already passed a majority of the trials that were placed before him and has proven himself to the founder of the Blood Knights Lady Liadrin."

The two men nodded silently and that was when Lor'themar introduced the last two Blood Elves.

"The Priestess is Valeria Goldenstar and as you might have guessed, she is a very capable healer and even knows how to increase her ability to support others with magic, defend herself in battle and fight as well if need be. And this is Lira Silverfury, one of our Mages and hasproven herself adept in using arcane magic in the field of battle as well as skilled in other matters such as research and development."

The four new Blood Elves nodded in greeting to the Spartan and they were all ready to go out to this task that had been placed on them by Lor'themar. The two female Blood Elves however were curious as to why they were being assigned to work with this human male, and what he looked like underneath the Armor and helmet.

The Spartan nodded a bit in greeting though he was now going to have to think on what he was going to do with this many people in his base. It was then that another voice spoke out.

"Well then, it seems that I have arrived just in time."

The group turned and there came none other than the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner and she seemed to be in the best of moods for an Undead woman to have. She gave the Spartan a smile and spoke to him.

"Greetings to you Spartan, you can guess already why I am here, I recently returned to the Undercity and have selected two of my people to act as representatives of my faction to your base. Though I send only two of my fellow Forsaken, they are capable and willing to do what is needed of them when I ask it."

Sylvanas then moved aside to reveal the two members of the Forsaken she had chosen to represent her people in question.

One appeared to the others as an Undead High Elf, similar to Sylvanas herself and wore the armor of a warrior and carried a two handed sword to further reinforce that fact. She had the same skin tone as the Banshee Queen and had the same glowing eyes, though her eyes were more yellowish in color. The other was wearing the robes one would associate with a Mage though he carried no wand or staff and instead carried a sword.

Sylvanas then spoke.

"These are my people's representatives, Alicia Darksteel and Derek Thornton, they have been chosen because of their…variable talents and skills. My people are currently in battle with both the Scourge forces and the Scarlet Crusade so they are the only ones I can spare on such short notice. As for, I have…other duties to take care of, Farewell Spartan…"

With that, Sylvanas took out a scroll and cast a portal to return to the Undercity and John looked at the two Forsaken carefully, keeping in mind the warning of Jaina from before and after a moment or two spoke to all of the new groups.

"All right then, I will be dropping by the village of the Darkspear Trolls so if there is any thing left to do, now is a good time to tell me."

Seeing none, the Spartan moved out and headed to the direction of the village named after Vol'jin's father Sen'jin

…

In the Village of Sen'jin…

Ruskhain smiled widely as he spotted the new visitors to Sen'jin Village and he spoke out in greeting to the human and his original group along with the new groups of Forsaken and Orcs. The Troll focused his attention to the

"Good ta see ya all came to visit the village of ma people mon."

John nodded and replied in greeting.

"Nice to see you again Ruskhain, it looks as if you were expecting us."

The Darkspear Troll nodded with a chuckle and replied.

"I was expectin ya to be arriving at some point in time mon, though not this early in da day. Vol'jin mentioned ya would be comin here soon and I have ta be the guide for you and the others as well, wit the fact you know me more than any other Troll here in the da village. Come now, we got some things to do and ma family wants ta meet ya and thank ya for saving my hide back there."

The Troll then looked at the Albatross and whistled a bit to the side and out came several other Trolls and he spoke to them while pointing his spear to the UNSC heavy Drop-ship. The other Trolls looked at the machine with worried eyes but they calmed down and nodded as they took positions around the massive drop-ship as Ruskhain spoke to the Master Chief.

"I asked ma kin there ta keep watch on that flying ship of yours and keep the others from getting too nosy an curious about that machine. Until ya and yer group leave this village, they will be keepin it safe as best they can, if that is all, let me guide you to the village okey mon?"

John nodded as he and the others moved through the area while Ruskhain guided them through the village of his people. Many of the trolls who were nearby were looking at the Spartan and his group with different modes of thought. One of which was why there were Night Elves among them at all as they were part of the Alliance. However, considering the fact that there were Blood Elves, Orcs, and a pair of Forsaken with them, they were willing to let this situation slide for now. Ruskhain directed the group to the largest hut and no doubt the central hub of the power of the Darkspear Tribe of Trolls. There he found none other than Vol'jin who was currently talking with his advisors. The discussions stopped and the Spartan spoke to the Troll leader.

"Good day to you Vol'jin."

The Troll smiled a bit at that and replied.

"Good ta see ya Spartan, I had not been expectin' you here this early in da day, but that is all right."

"I see, anyway, I'll leave you and your advisors alone for a while since you have a lot to discuss."

Vol'jin smiled in his race's fashion and spoke.

"Well den Spartan, you and the others can make yourselves at home in ma kin's village while I begin the process of choosing who else among ma kin I can send to be representatives of ma people in the place in Kalimdor ya call your home or base. Though I plan to have Ruskhain be one of them since he and you are already in good terms. I will send word to de one of my people, namely Ruskhain's family ta have some rooms and what good and drink we can give ya and your group while ya all are here in ma people's village. Ruskhain will be answerin any questions ya might ask about this village and even about our people he might not have told ya before."

John nodded at that and bowed to Vol'jin as a sign of respect to the Troll leader, Vol'jin did the same thing and soon Ruskhain guided the group to the hut that was his home. There the Master Chief was greeted by the family of Ruskhain, he and the others were allowed to rest for a while as he decided to talk with Ruskhain's family.

It was here that he learned more about the Trolls and their culture in general, namely about their use of Voodoo magic which he was not entirely unfamiliar with since there were cultures on Earth that did practice Voodoo magic. He also learned of the traditional views of the Trolls, namely when it came to their positions of power and also when it concerned their women. Female Trolls were treated mainly as mates though many of them were also treated well if they had partaken in battles with the men.

However, ever since becoming allies with the Horde and learning about the way the Orcs and Tauren treat their females with them reaching positions of power, many Troll females had taken a level of interest in having more active roles in their society and had decided to do so. The male trolls were not completely pleased with this, but they nevertheless honored the plans of their female kindred. It was not easy of course due to trying to leave behind old habits and cultural beliefs but there were those who did succeed in the matter.

They also embrace the ideal of doing whatever it took, they still retained their culture, philosophy and their practice of Voodoo despite the negative look the Horde has towards it. Ruskhain's father was more than willing to tell him that, if and when the Horde did fail the Darkspears, they would have their ancestral faith to fall back on. But until that day comes, the Darkspears would fight with all of their power for the Horde and Warchief Thrall. They will avoid using the darker aspects of their powers if the Horde races are watching, but they know the power they have will aid them when the time came.

He learned of their belief of the Loa, spirits of power over various aspects of nature and life as well as death, this was a remnant of their past lives as part of the Troll Empire long ago before they broke away from the bloody traditions of their people when it became too much for them to endure and stomach.

As time passed, it was not long before the Spartan and his cohorts who had rested elsewhere had been called by Vol'jin back to the central hut. As the Master Chief arrived, he was greeted by the members of the Troll leadership, Vol'jin and another troll who judging from his robes and adornments was the spiritual and mystic advisor to Vol'jin himself. The Troll leader then spoke to the Spartan.

"Greetings to ya Spartan, I would like you ta meet Master Gadrin, he is the leading mage and priest trainer of ma people, and is one of my trusted advisors."

Gadrin nodded in greeting and spoke to the Master Chief.

"I greet ya, Master Vol'jin has spoken highly of ya human, and I can see that da praise is not without merit, great power I sense from ya, even though it has nothing ta do with magic of any kind."

Vol'jin nodded and then spoke in Troll and in walked three more Trolls, two of the new arriving Trolls were male and yet were different from on another as well.

One wore full metal armor and was no doubt a warrior of his people and carried a long broad bladed sword and a small shield to go with it. The other was wearing elaborate gear with two spikes with skulls on them on his back on a harness; several items were on this male Troll and on his belt was a knife similar to the ones used by Gurkha warriors and Special Forces units in the past 21st century of Earth, in his hand was a weapon that resembled the same weapon he had seen Vol'jin also carry with him. He learned that the weapon as a Fel glaive and resembled a larger Gurkha knife that was made into a sword with a secondary blade as the end of the handle and was used both for close combat and ranged fighting, no doubt being enchanted in some way to return to it's owner

The third was a female Darkspear Troll who was actually dressed in the same garb as the second male Troll and like Vol'jin as well, carrying the very same weapon as the two of them. That was when Vol'jin spoke.

"I would like ya ta meet Rokhan, he is one of the best scouts of ma people and served alongside the previous Champion of the Horde, Rexxar."

Rokhan smiled in greeting and replied.

"Good ta see ya human, I recently heard of da battle between ya and that young Hellscream, shame I didn't see it for myself."

Vol'jin smirked a bit.

"Rokhan is one of da best of our Shadow Hunters, but he is on an important task and only came here to see ya, the one who will be accompanying you will be his companions…his apprentice Shadow Hunter Zallandra and one of our warriors Jag'Drel. They shall represent our people to ya human."

The female Shadow Hunter nodded and spoke to the Spartan while looking him over in Common.

"I do not know why you have such a reputation with Master Vol'jin, but if he asks me to help you in any fashion human, I will do so."

"As will I mon."

The group turned and there was Ruskhain as he was now wearing leather and chainmail armor and carrying several spears in a pack and a larger fighting spear in hand.

Cortana then spoke to John in private.

"I guess that wraps up the Trolls for their representatives John, I guess the next stop is none other than the lands of the Tauren, time to get some rest and get ready to go."

…

A day later…

As the Spartan guided the Albatross to the area of Mulgore, he had to admit that the place was certainly beautiful, healthy looking trees, clean and clear rivers, and lakes, large numbers of tall trees, the herds of large and small animals. There was plenty of wild game to hunt as well as plenty of plant food for all of those who sought it. No wonder the Tauren had come here to settle in these lands. He had decided to visit Thunder Bluff, the capital city of the Tauren under the personal invitation of Cairne as well as Baine.

Along with him were the Night Elves, the Blood Elves the Orcs, the Forsaken, as well as the Trolls, all three groups who were assigned by their leaders to be representatives of their respective races to the Spartan, it was not exactly something that he was keen on due to the extra strain this would put on his supplies and space, but he knew that it was an unavoidable situation as he needed to make sure he had cordial relations with all the races of the Horde if that was possible for him to accomplish while he was still here on this world until he was able to be rescued by the UNSC if they ever sent ships in this direction and location.

The only good news for him was that he was more than able to hold his own if needed, and both Vol'jin and Thrall assigned him with people who they knew were very much trust worthy. The two other groups sent by Lor'themar, and Sylvanas needed to be watched however in his mind as there was no telling what was brewing there in their minds. He cleared those thoughts away as he knew that he had far more pressing matters before him as he guided the Albatross into landing near where the Great Elevator was currently located.

He spotted the Tauren capital city of Thunder Bluff easily enough and saw the Tauren architecture there and saw that it was similar to those made by Native American tribes in the past, befitting the nomadic nature of the Tauren. He knew full well why they settled there in Mulgore and considered the move to be a very good one for them to take. Each building was well tended to and large numbers of Tauren were there below, many of them having different fur colorings as well to differentiate themselves from one another, apart from their manner of dress and what they happened to have on them.

As he guided the Albatross downward and landed, he was able to spot a number of Tauren guardsmen move towards the Albatross with weapons at the ready to defend themselves if they were suddenly attacked. He could see through the cameras of the heavy Drop ship that the Tauren guards were not sure what to make of the ship that was before them but they were not going to take any chances with this and were ready to fight if it was necessary.

It was not long before he spotted a Tauren that he was able to recognize; it was none other than Baine Bloodhoof himself as he and the others walked out from the Albatross. The son of Cairne greeted them with a roar of laughter and spoke to the Spartan.

"Greetings Spartan, we have been expecting you, my father has already selected a number of our people to serve as our representatives to you, they await you in the Chieftain's tent in the eastern side of the city, I shall be your guide."

John nodded at that and spoke.

"Thank you Baine."

"Think nothing of it, I also vow that none of the people who follow you shall be harmed, especially the Blood Elves and the Undead."

As they were taken up by the elevators, the Spartan determined that Thunder Bluff was separated in several different mesas and were all connected by very sturdy bridges which were made to handle the weight of the Tauren who used them. As he and the others moved through the mesas to reach the central one that was the place where Cairne could be found, Baine told the Spartan a bit more about the Tauren culture and traditions as he was the guide of the group.

From Baine, he learned that while they were a peace loving people and respected Nature, the Tauren still tested themselves in the Great Hunt and pitted themselves against the beasts of the Wild, yet they also balanced their hunting with their respect for the land so do not hunt all the animals completely, maintaining the balance of the land and respecting the earth Mother, being blessed by her in turn as they are also her children.

Baine also explained the various Tribes of the Tauren and their place in Tauren society as a whole and how each Tribe contributed to the Earth Mother as a whole as well. John naturally asked about each Mesa area and Baine gave the Spartan the answers he sought while John looked about, getting the feel of the city of Thunder Bluff, doing the same thing as before and determining while it was very difficult to attack this city by traditional means, it was easy to cut them off from supporting one another by taking out the bridges and denying them supplies as well as critical reinforcements from the air.

As John looked about, he noted the various Tauren that were in the area and so did his companions while they themselves were also being looked at by the Tauren. The Orcs and trolls were greeted with respect, while the Forsaken and Blood Elves were only tolerated. John noticed tha and Cortana spoke to him while she was recording the different Tauren who inhabited the place, from children, to adults, and to the elders.

"Not a bad looking race, these Tauren, you'd mistake them for Minotaur in Greek mythology but they don't have any of the blood thirsty nature that you'd expect from Minotaur. Compared to the Jiralhanae, they look pretty harmless at first glance."

"True, but when they are angry or defending themselves, things can change very easily, that coupled with the enemies they face hardly makes them look harmless."

"I know, come on, we're reaching the tent now from the looks of it."

…

The Chieftain's Tent…

Cairne smiled in greeting as he placed aside his massive weapon and spoke to the Master Chief, beside him was his old childhood friend Hamuul Runetotem , and on another side was Perith Stormhoof, one of the holy striders, next was none other than Magatha Grimtotem who looked at the new arrivals with levels of distain.

"Greetings Spartan, I see that you have arrived in good time, I bid you welcome to Thunder Bluff."

John bowed down to show respect and as he rose, that was when Magatha spoke.

"What is this…thing doing here in our lands Cairne?"

"Magatha, you know full well who he is, I have told you and the other leaders about him already when I returned from my stay in Orgrimmar, and it was he who rescued Mothral Firehoof from captivity by the hands of the Twilight's Hammer Clan."

"Be that as it may…we do not need to have him here of all places, so why is he here?"

"He is here because I have plans to send some of our people to represent us to him, besides, I have a feeling within my old bones that he has a role to play in this world of ours."

Magatha snorted a bit at that and replied,

"What makes you so sure that this…human has a role to play in our world at all Cairne?"

"Are we all not children of the Earth Mother Magatha? If he is here, then he is here for a reason, and only by being here will he find that path she has laid out to him."

Magatha snorted once more at that and looked at the Spartan in a very intimidating fashion, but to her irritation, the Spartan hardly seemed to notice or care for her stare at him. Hamuul then spoke out to the others.

"Peace Cairne, Magatha, we are not here to get into another argument like before. It has already been decided so we are here to show to the Spartan who among our people have been chosen to represent us to him, we should call the chosen forth."

Cairne nodded and gave out a loud bellow and soon three new Tauren came into the picture, one was apparently a Druid and carried a staff while the others was a Shaman who carried a powerful stone war hammer and wore mail Armor. Both of whom were male and the last one was a female warrior who wore full plate armor and carried a massive two handed axe on her back. The two male Tauren had brown fur with silver patches, while the female had silver fur with black streaks there as well. All three of them carried themselves with considerable skill and power, that much both Cortana and John could see.

Cairne then introduced them before the Spartan.

"Before you are the representatives that we have chosen to help you in your task Spartan. Halfa Ragetotem is our warrior and she has proven a strong fighter in the tradition of her Clan and is the niece of Henen Ragetotem. She is more than able to aid you if there is a battle that you might not be able to avoid in the future and where the strength of the Tauren is needed."

"Next is Thoral Runetotem, one of Hamuul's best students and also is gifted in his own right as a Druid, there is no doubt in Hamuul's mind and mine that he will be of aid to you asnd he wishes to learn more from other Druids as well. He and Bron Skychaser also happen to be close friends and have fought together before in many situations and as such, they work best together as a team. Both their skills can be of use to you when the time comes."

John looked at the three approvingly and spoke to Cairne.

"They are well skilled, I can see that easily, you choose your representatives well Chieftain Cairne."

"I thank you for your words Spartan, would you mind partaking in the hospitality here of my people?"

John however knew he had much to do and replied to the invitation with as much respect as he could.

"Sadly no, I have much to do and the sooner I get back to my base, then I can get everything done much quicker. I am sorry if this decision might somehow offend you, but that is my situation. Besides, even with the defenses in my base, there is still a chance some people might get too nosy for their own good, so I must see to it all as soon as possible."

However, instead of being angered by John's refusal to stay for a while and partake in their hospitality, Cairne nodded to the Spartan and spoke to him.

"I see, you are a man of action and you prefer to settle things quickly. There is also truth in your words as well. Very well then Spartan, you have my permission to return to your base in the lands of the Night Elves, and may the blessings of the Earth Mother by upon you all."

John nodded but replied before he turned to lead the others back to the Albatross with Baine ready to guide them back.

"If it would please you, I will invite you to my base to partake my hospitality if it is all right with you Chieftain Cairne?"

The elder Tauren laughed a bit and replied.

"I would like that Spartan, farewell to you and your companions."

As he and the others left, Magatha looked at the group with wary eyes…this might prove a problem, but she was not going to rest until her plans had been finally completed and no matter what, she would never be denied the place of leadership she knew that she deserved. She looked at Cairne and spoke to herself quietly.

(Soon you will fade away Cairne, and when I deal with your son, then the Grimtotem shall rise and be stronger for it. Kalimdor belongs to the Tauren and I swear on my place as Crone and leader, we shall have it by force!)

…

In the Dawn's location…

As the Albatross landed in the perimeter of the Dawn, the occupants of the Albatross stepped out of the drop-ship and those who had never seen the Dawn before were quickly taken aback by the sight of the massive UNSC vessel. Only those who had been in the base before didn't show too much surprise and awe as their companions did. John didn't have much time to think about this as he was now among them all.

He coughed loudly and that got the attention of the groups before him.

"All right then, for those of you who I have worked with before, you already know what I am going to say so you can take your leave for today. For those of you who are all new here, then listen and listen well since I am only going to say these things once to all of you and I won't repeat them."

Kaelyn and her fellow Night Elves knew already what he was going to say and they moved away, though they were not too far from the Spartan, the same went for Erin, Janna, and Tannis but they did tell their fellow Blood Elves to stay there and listen with the others.

"This is my base and as such, I am the sole authority here so seek me out if you have concerns or messages to give from your leaders. Do not go around in the Dawn's restricted areas, if I catch anyone of you in said restricted areas, I am not going to hesitate in having you removed, by word, by force, or both."

"Next, this base of mine happens to be in Night Elf territory and as such, you are to respect their lands, that means to wanton killing of wildlife unless for food, and NO chopping down of trees, there will be a solution to any need for lumber in the long run so don't even dream of it. Next rule, this IS neutral ground, so I will NOT take kindly to any attempts from your respective race to turn my base into a staging ground for attacks on the Night Elves, the same rules apply to the Alliance as I will not allow them to turn this base into a staging area for attacks on Horde lands as well."

"Next, if you have legitimate concerns then bring them to me, and I will find a solution that works best for that problem. And the last rule is simple, keep your tempers in check and do not start fighting with the other races of the Alliance who I have no doubt will send representatives of their own as well. I am well aware of old hatreds, cultural difference and the whole ten yards between the various races of both factions, and I am not in the mood for fights to break out, the same goes for the Alliance as well."

"You're Warchief believes that Orcs can live in peace with the members of the Alliance or at least cooperate with one another, and that belief also extends to the rest of those in the Horde. I respect that belief of his a good deal and as such this is now going to be a place where it will be seen if all of your races can coexist with one another. If that works, you all have helped Thrall realize his beliefs even more."

"Remember my rules and we'll all get along fine, break them, then I will send you back to your leaders and inform them about what you did here to make me send you back. I do not care if I have to send you to them on your power or I have to haul your alive but unconscious forms so it's up to you if you are sent back in the way of the former or the latter, do we understand each other?"

The Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, the new Blood Elves and the Undead Forsaken could see that the Spartan was dead serious on the matter and as such they agreed to that. John then decided to focus on what both he and Cortana were going to do concerning the places he would be quartering all of them all. He doubted that it was going to be easy. The Tauren were already a major concern due to their size and height and therefore there was little chance of them being housed in the Dawn. The Undead were also another concern as their…'odor' might prove to be a problem to the other members of the Horde, and he had no doubt that the Night Elves were not going to like that as well. He would have to find some solutions soon in terms of where they were going to be housed and how to best keep the peace between them all, even though the Horde representatives outnumbered the Alliance representatives.

It was then that he spotted a portal opening before him, he quickly recognized the patterns in the portal to be cast by an Archmage, and he knew of only one Archmage who would be able to find him. Sure enough, the Master Chief was soon greeted by the sight of Jaina Proudmoore and to his surprise, Aegwynn herself was with them. He moved over to greet them and try to find out what they were doing here in his base of all things.

"Good day to you Lady Jaina, Lady Aegwynn."

The Spartan gave them a bow and both women smiled in greeting as well and that was when the Spartan spoke to the two of them while the members of the Horde were surprised by this chain of events before them as they wondered just what was the leader of Theramore Isle doing here as well as her chamberlain. The Master Chief was naturally the one who spoke first on that matter.

"Not that I am complaining, but why are you two here?"

Jaina replied.

"We are here for a very important reason, while you were with the Horde leadership, we had a large number of people coming in to Theramore, many of them you might easily recognize."

Before the Spartan could wonder just who were the people in question were. The two opened another portal, this time, the portal was a much larger one and soon a large group of people arrived and the Spartan as well as Cortana were able to recognize a good number of the people well enough. They were the people of the Alliance that he had rescued before and in the lead of the group was an old man who the two had no problem recognizing.

"Samson Hightower?'

The old man nodded, he looked healthier and in much better shape, and he wore simple but comfortable clothing as well, and to the surprise of the Spartan, he was carrying a large number of tools and supplies with him. The same could be seen with his companions who were the same bands he had rescued before. All of them looked healthier than he last saw them and all of them were smiling as they looked at their savior, with them were a number of humans, high elves, and half elves who the Chief and Cortana did not recognize. The old man spoke to the Spartan…

"Spartan, I have come back to repay you for your rescue of my life all those months ago. I and those you rescued wish to repay you in this fashion by helping you make your base a good community."

"But I thought you would return home to Azeroth?"

The old man nodded and a tear rolled down his right eye as he spoke.

"I did, but I have been gone so long that no one in my old village would recognize me, my family has written me off for dead and they themselves have long disappeared, and those who are of my family have families of their own. I have tried to find a place for me, but I didn't find it. That is why I decided to come back here, for it was you who gave me back my life, and now, before I join my family in the afterlife, I wish to repay you for my freedom. When I left my homeland to come back here to your camp I ran into the others from long ago. We talked it over and I learned that they too have decided to return here to help you. So much for us all have changed in our lands that we have no other place to belong. There were others as well who were wanderers and they joined us to find work and wanted to come with us."

"That is why we came back to Theramore Isle by sea and petitioned to Lady Jaina to allow us to return here to you and ask for us to reside here in your home. In exchange we swear to be of service to you and to whatever ends that you have planned for yourself."

John was incredulous at this and made that clear to the people before him.

"Are you all being very serious about this decision that you have made?"

All of them nodded and that stunned the Spartan as he now realized that he had to deal with not just the representatives of the Horde, but an entire refugee population who were now asking to work under him. If he didn't know any better, then he would have thought that he was dreaming this. But the evidence was right there before him and that was kind of thing that really got him into a serious bind as he had no idea just how to respond to this whole situation that had just crashed into his lap faster than a force of ODSTs in their HEVs.

He looked at Jaina and Aegwynn and the former Guardian spoke to him.

"They are speaking the truth Spartan, they have been slaves for so long that they have been left behind by time and their people, they have no other place to go but here with you."

Jaina then spoke.

"I know that you have your hands full already Chief, and I have tried to tell them about your current situation, but they are not going to change their minds on the matter. And they are right in what they have said to you, this is the only place that they were willing to go to and settle down in."

…

Cortana could tell that despite his stoic calmness to the others while in his MJOLNIR Mark VI, John was getting more and more annoyed by the sudden increase of people in their base, The Horde representatives were going to be a handful even though he now understood their cultures and history a lot more. But the sudden arrival of Samson Hightower and the former slaves he rescued months before as well as some of their family members was something he was not expecting. And while Spartans were trained to the bone to expect the unexpected, that hardly made it easy for them to deal with.

There was going to have to be some serious re-designing done to the base to accommodate the new arrivals and that meant that there was going to be a lot more work for him to do this time around.

She then spoke to John in private.

"You're getting more and more annoyed aren't you?"

"You think?"

The A.I suppressed the urge to laugh at the show of sarcasm from her guardian, but she decided to help he the bright side of things.

"Look at things in this fashion Chief; we have people here who can help contribute to supplying the base with food and resources so we don't have to go too far from the Dawn. Next we have a corps of warriors here from different cultures and racial backgrounds so that's more than enough to make even the most maniacal idiot think twice in trying to jump this place. Next this place being neutral ground for both Alliance and Horde, we can observe and learn even more from both sides when the time comes. And of course, with this place acting as neutral ground we don't have to travel far, the leaders can come to us."

"Really?"

"Think about it Chief, our location is ideal to say the least being between the borders of both the Alliance and the Horde here in Kalimdor. Besides, we're not without support in this location, we can occasionally ask help from Darnassus through High Priestess Tyrande, and with Theramore Isle getting brisk trade from both the Horde and the Alliance with it being a port city, we can gain other supplies from them and we can trade things at the same time. I know you don't like the increased numbers that much, but you did agree to this so no sense backing out now."

John replied to that easily.

"I know, all right then, I might as well talk to Lady Jaina about these arrangements, but I can bet that as soon as High Priestess Tyrande hears about these changes, she might start having second thoughts about allowing us here, and even if she isn't going to have second thoughts, I can bet that Arch druid Fandral Staghelm is really going to blow a gasket over all this."

"Don't we know it, the real concern for now apart from the redesigning of the base, is the Forsaken, namely in the sense on where are we going to quarter them, there might only be two of them but I doubt they are going to be winning any other friends outside of the Blood Elves."

"I'll think of something."

As soon as the conversation was over between the two, they spoke to the Archmage who had been waiting as patiently as she could for the Spartan to speak.

"I'll take them in Lady Proudmoore, but there is going to have to be some planning involved and I believe it will include us asking for aid from you."

"Oh?"

…

Two months later…

John moved to the open area of the Dawn and looked at the area of his base…or rather his newly expanded base and shook his head. He had never expected this to happen to him of all things as he was now head of a rather bustling community of people. Apart from the Horde representatives who were present, there were also a number of Peons who had been sent there by Thrall who were helping in the growing of crops, the harvesting of fish, raising livestock and the gathering of materials. Samson Hightower was now handling some of the housing needs as well as several other construction projects while the humans who were with him made homes and also helped with the farming and crafting, showing that the Alliance's respect for farmers was very well deserved.

The High Elves also helped in the construction of the place and also helped gather herbs that would be useful for making potions and reagents as well as even making cloth and leather items. The half Elves decided to also help with the security of the place as some of them with some of the humans began to be blacksmiths and soldiers though they were armed with medieval weaponry as he was not going to give them the UNSC or Covenant armaments as they would have a hard time using them.

He had no choice but to redesign the base in order to make extra room for the new residents of his base. The design of the walls had not changed, but this time, he had expanded the base by adding new walls of the same design which were another good one thousand feet from the original ones, that was why he had to go back to harvesting the granite as before, only this time they were twice as long and twice as thick so he would have to use Pelicans in conjunction with the Albatross to ferry the much heavier and larger slabs to the base.

Once those were brought in, he had to remove all of the mines and traps he had placed before and placed those away for storage which he naturally did carefully in order to avoid blowing himself up. He also dusted out the Steam Armor units that he still had on hand for this kind of work as this plus the aid of everyone including the Mages from the Horde had sped up the process.

Once the new walls were put into place and reinforced as well as now sporting another series of heavy support weapons like the pervious walls, John decided to set up towers with the remaining granite slabs and these were positioned around the corners of the pentagon like structure and were high enough to give a full view of the locations around him, the towers were also built to act as sniper posts and were reinforced to withstand heavy punishment with metal plating and Instacrete to hold them all together. There in each tower was a large room which was well ventilated and actually had a weapons locker in them as well as some weapon stands where bows and arrows were stored and in those weapons lockers were several Sniper Rifles, all of which were fully loaded and stores of well contained ammunition were with them as well.

Once those were done, the next thing he needed to do was set up living spaces for the representatives of the Horde, namely for the Trolls, Tauren, the Forsaken, the Blood Elves and the Orcs. Some of these races were rather wary of the Dawn's appearance and therefore were not very keen on the idea of getting close to the vessel, not only that, they were ill at ease in the ship when he allowed them to look at it.

Only the Forsaken and the Blood Elves, namely the new ones were very interested in the place itself, but he was not going to let them just wander about in his base just yet. Erin, Janna and Tannis were allowed since he was more familiar with them and there was no need to explain the presence of the three Night Elves who were getting a lot more comfortable with being in the ship. This was not limited to the Horde representatives but also to the Peons as well.

Naturally in order to build those structures, they needed wood apart from stone and Instacrete, and the only way to get wood naturally was to harvest lumber from the forests nearby. That would have been the best solution, but he also knew that the Night Elves were not going to take the despoiling of their forests lightly. He knew about the reasons for their anger towards those who deforested the lands and what the result was between the Orcs and the Night Elves when the Orcs began to harvest the lumber that they needed, so he was rather wary on making an action that could end up antagonizing the people who he had already developed relations with them. I wasn't that he was not able to fend them off, it was rather his desire to not waste his resources and energy fighting others when they were not his confirmed enemies.

Thankfully Tyrande herself gave the solution as she had dispatched a large number of Wisps to help with the gathering of lumber so there was no lumber harvesting operations in his area that would have brought a serious amount of anger towards him. He had informed Tyrande of the situation via the magical scroll that she had given him, and they had decided to use the alphabet and language of the island nation of Japan known as Japanese.

Since the language and alphabet was totally unknown in this land and Fandral would not bother with learning what he deemed an inferior language, John and Cortana had provided the High Priestess of the Night Elves data on how the language and alphabet worked and that was very helpful in keeping the Arch druid in the dark for now. She was quick to pick up on the use of the language and found it to be very useful in the long run.

The wisps were able to magically extract the lumber the Spartan and his new wards needed in order to make their buildings and other needs without damaging the forests and angering the Night Elves. The supplies were small at first but were soon picking up, and since one of the new Night Elf residents happened to be in good terms with the wisps assigned by Tyrande, the Master Chief could ask them when they needed to stop with what it was that they were doing. Cortana had been using her time studying just how these spirits of long deceased Night Elves were able to extract good quality lumber without harming the trees as such a process was amazing to her. She also pointed out that if they could, they could actually have surplus supplies of lumber that they could sell to Thrall as his people were in need of lumber.

She pointed out that if they were able to help supply the needs of the Horde for lumber in a renewable fashion, then it would make it no longer necessary for the Horde to maintain logging operations in Ashenvale and this would help ease some of the tension between the Night Elves and the Orcs. It was a smart idea by the A.I and John could see the results of such a situation. However, that was for another time to think about as the two of them had other matters that needed their full attention. One of which was the arrival of more people, this time from the Night Elves themselves.

…

He was surprised to see that a good number of Night Elves had arrived and wanted to take residence in the base that he owned. One such group was the family of Reisha. The escorting force of Night Elves pointed out that Tyrande had agreed to it in response to the Horde representatives as a way to remind them that while they were neutral ground, the land they were on was still Night Elf territory and they should learn not to do anything rash that would be seen as a threat by her and the other Night Elves.

That meant that Kaelyn, Jarrod, and Sandra were not going to be the only Night Elves who would be taking residence in his base as well as there were several new faces who were going to be helping him own in keeping the place safe from possible attack.

One was a female Night Elf who was dressed in ornate but highly functional armor and carried some form of chakram weapon that was a lot larger than the weapon found on Earth and was tailored more for melee combat as well as a large number of jagged leaf shaped knives for throwing. John was quick to determine that she was a Warden, a member of a special police force of the Night Elves, and she said that her name was Keina Starblade. She had been assigned by Tyrande to help maintain the peace in the base and also serve as a support if needed. Though she was a Warden she had not been among those guarding Illidan and had been elsewhere and despite hearing of what happened to the Watchers, does not hold animosity to Tyrande.

This along with her dedication as well as her open minded nature when it came to tracking her targets, was why she was chosen by the High Priestess for this task of helping maintain the lands that were given to the Master Chief for his use, and aid him if needed to hunt down threats in the lands of the Night Elves if he needed assistance.

Another was a female Druid named Kaisha Shadowwing who carried a spear instead of the usual Staff of the Druids and she was a close friend of Keina as well. She also wore the same leather armor of the Druids in battle. She turned out to be an old friend of Jarrod and apparently had been very interested in working with him once more since she had been an adventuring Druid for the past years since they had last seen one another.

The next was a female Night Elf who wore limited armor and only had a top and pants of leather with furs lining the side, showing that she prefers agility, mobility, and speed. There were several intricate tattoos on her body and to his surprise, she wore a band of cloth over her eyes. She had a pair of double bladed War blades in each of her hands. The way the other Night Elves acted towards the woman told the Spartan that this woman was a special case, and he had read on just why that was the case as he had read about them.

She was a Demon Hunter, a cadre of male and female Night Elves who had dedicated their lives to fight the Burning Legion, only in their case, they decided to do that by using the very power of the Legion against them. They were supposed to have come from one of the strongest warriors of the Night Elves in the Third War, though the Night Elf in question was also condemned as the greatest traitor of their people, Illidan Stormrage. The new generation naturally couldn't follow the same path so they train to capture a demon and sacrifice it to ritually bind it's powers to them by blinding themselves.

While these men and women of the Night Elf race were among the greatest warriors of their people, they were mistrusted and misunderstood due to their pact with darkness and were seen as people who were as dangerous as warlocks. However, those who did bond with them saw that their pact was noble in intentions as well as their tragic decision to be outcasts among their own people. There were rumors of Blood Elves and other races joining the ranks of the Demon Hunters, but they were rare already to begin with.

The woman's name was Kaylai Shadowstalker and was an apprentice Demon Hunter from the contested lands of Azshara and her teacher was the Demon Hunter Loramus Thalipedes. She had been sent there to Darnassus to help with hunting any more demons that may still linger in the lands of their people even though she would no longer be welcomed. When she arrived, she then heard rumors of the Spartan and curious as to who this being was, she decided to go with the group heading to the base and was allowed by Tyrande under the warning that she would be watched and she accepted that.

The last three were all male Night Elves, the first was Tandris Moonlight who was dressed in the usual armor and clothing of a warrior and carried a pair of swords to prove that he was one. The next was a Rogue who wielded a pair of Fist weapons who went by the name of Khandora Ravenwing, and the last was a Hunter named Dane Wolfheart, who carried a longbow like Sandra but instead of using swords, he preferred to carry a spear in battle and had a pet Hawk as his companion who he called Silver-wing.

The three were long time friends and were actually adventurers who had done a number of tasks for Darnassus well beyond the lands of their people and had even taken part of several missions that were extremely demanding for them. The fact that they were very much brothers in arms coupled with actual field experience made them valuable in battle which was why Tyrande had decided to send them as allies to the Spartan should the need arise.

These new faces were going to be a real test to his brain, but at least the new arrivals had the skill and ability to help him out and contribute in any fashion that would prove helpful in the long run.

…

John placed those memories aside as he continued to examine his new base of operations after he had to redesign it from the ground up.

The new base was much larger with two series of walls around the Dawn, both series of walls were extremely strong so they were not doing to be easily broken into. There were several complexes there in the area of the outer walls such as a pair of large pens that housed a number of the animals that were sent over from Darnassus, Theramore Isle, and from the Horde as well. These animals ranged from boars, pigs, chickens, cows and some other animals. The next were store houses for food items, and also store houses for the building materials. There were also shops that sold the goods of those who worked in his base as well as a training yard for those who were going to help him keep this base secure and an armory as well.

The residential areas were also divided with one section for the Orcs, another for the Tauren, another for the Trolls, the four new Blood Elves, the Forsaken, and the Trolls as well. There was also a good complex for the handful of Peons to reside in. The Peons were pleasantly surprised to have a place of their own with many good things for them to use and that made them happy that the Warchief had assigned them here. They were so happy that they promised to do their best not to disappoint the efforts of the Warchief and also not to disappoint the Spartan at all as well.

There was also a section for the High Elves who were able to build their new homes with the combination of muscle and magic. The Half Elves also resided in with the humans who had their own section for them to live in though they were able to interact well enough with their High Elf brethren. The Night Elves naturally built houses of their own that resembled the building style of Eastern lands which John had seen in the city of Darnassus in their own section of the newly expanded base.

John also had a dock built at the sea's edge and it was protected by walls and a path leading back into the base. This was where several boats were docked which would be used to harvest the sea for food. It was not a large dock by any standard but it could handle trading vessels and was manned by some of the humans, half elves, and the Peons though he made sure to remind them to keep the peace between one another.

While the buildings were not that numerous in the new base, he needed to save space in order to be ready for the possibility of Alliance representatives coming here since he had no doubt that sooner or later, the Alliance leaders would send their own people here in his base soon enough to establish their own connection to his camp and since he was technically in Alliance land, he would have to accommodate them at some point in time.

Both he and Cortana also worked with Samson and his people in the construction of a large bunker style building with the remaining granite with it being covered in mithril plating for extra protection. The building was build up to UNSC code and was furbished with a small armory for those people in the building to use and store ordnance and weapons, and had one of the hologram tables that Cortana and John had made installed with it and the other devices there powered by the Dawn's fusion reactors.

The rooms were well made and had comfort in mind while not being to showy as the rooms were basic in form and function, having tables, a bed, chairs, a locker and chest for storage and rooms for bathing, and basic hygiene with supplies of water being brought in via piping. The hologram table was in the second floor and this was the planning area as the building was able to receive incoming tactical and visual data from the security sensor net that the Master Chief had placed in the area of the base, it also gathered information from the helmet cameras of the Master Chief and any UNSC made camera system, and lastly could access incoming data streams from the satellite that was still orbiting deep space. He and Cortana however had plans to deploy more of the satellite drones when they had the chance for more data to be available to them if ever needed.

The first floor's main room was the dining area for the people there to eat and relax and there was a staircase where that naturally led to the second floor and the planning room where the hologram table was. The building was also ventilated and there was also an air conditioning system that was installed with smart sensors to scan the body temperatures of the people there and adjust the temperature accordingly.

The building would serve as a meeting area for the power players in the Alliance and the Horde as well as any independent faction member that might find their way here and was not a threat to the Spartan. The mines and traps he had to unearth to expand the lands of his base were placed back once more though in a much different pattern as he decided to create….'open paths' for the people of his 'town' to move through when they needed to move through the lands and he would hand TACPADs that would show the location of the traps and mines.

However, to really throw any possible infiltrator's plans to get into his base right out the window, he had the TACPAD armed with a DNA and finger print scanner which would mean that it would only show the maps of the base's defenses if the holder's DNA and fingerprint matched the ones he had on storage in the database in the Dawn as well as in his MJOLNIR"s own data stores with Cortana being the one who would access it.

Also, the maps were randomized as he would be moving the traps and mines into different locations every two days in the cover of darkness; this would ensure that there was going to be no predictable, hence exploitable route into his base. That was sure to give the enemy a serious amount of headaches when it came to getting into his base of operations.

He also decided to spread out the load to make sure that he was not going to be overwhelmed by too much responsibility so he decided to assign tasks to those he could trust. Cortana was naturally the one he trusted to hold the fort when it came to using the technological aspect of security of the base.

He then decided to give some positions for those he had already began to trust even more, he assigned Kaelyn was assigned as head of security for the ones who would be handling the defense of the base itself. She would handle this place in case he was not around and since she already had years of experience then he knew that the base was in good hands.

For Sandra, he assigned her to act as the leader of the outside patrols and hunting of food as well as gathering supplies that cannot be gathered from the farms here in the base as well as act as leader for defense of the foraging, mining, and gathering parties that would be out.

For Jarrod, he gave the Druid the duty to help check the health and strength of the animals that were there and ensure that there were no sicknesses and poisons that might be introduced into the animals. He would also help with the defense of the base by helping with the use of his ties to nature.

For Erin, he assigned her the task of being the lead officer for gathering information and compiling it for him and Cortana to look over. And she was also made into a spy to watch the other members of the Horde contingent to make sure that they were at their best behavior and also to act as the head of spying the lands whenever needed.

So far, these were the only group he had assigned for those duties as he had to see just how trustworthy the new members of his group were. He was not going to trust them all with much of the secrets just yet, but he showed that he was able to reward those who were able to contribute to the security of the base and were able to prove themselves to be trust worthy individuals.

As John was done looking all over the place, Cortana spoke to him.

"We've really moved up in the world huh?"

"What exactly do you mean by that anyway?"

"Think about it, we moved from being the unknown arrival from who knew where, to the head of what is possibly a soon to grow town in the middle of a planet that we know is not dominated by technology, but by magic. I could go on and on, but you already know just what I am talking about anyway. Still, being in this kind of situation is really different from what we are used to so we have to do our best to foul up somewhere."

"When have I ever fouled up? Or when have you ever fouled up?"

The A.I smirked and laughed a bit at that as she replied.

"Touché, anyway, we do have to consider what we're going to do once we make our move to speak to the Alliance leader who we have not met yet. And I have no doubts in my mind that as soon as we get everything done, the leaders of the Alliance are going to want to sent their representatives here to keep an eye on us as well. The good news is that we have enough land to give to them if they need it."

The Master Chief nodded as he finished looking at the expanded base and decided to see just what was going on in the ground and see just how the people he was in charge of were getting along. He knew that he was going to have a long time ahead of him in getting everything fully settled down before he would make his move to visit the lands of the Alliance members of the Dwarves, the Gnomes, and the Draenei in the near future.

One thing was certain in the mind of the Spartan; this was going to be a very interesting time he was in and he was not going to have it easy. Then again, Spartans were trained for extreme situations and while diplomacy and politics were to be left for the people who handled them, he was going to adapt to this soon enough.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, Power loss and internet loss bites big time when they happen…and sorry for the gaffe earlier, that has been remedied.

I just hope that this chapter is enough for now since I have to start working on the rest of my plans soon enough.

Ah…at any rate, at least there is now another chapter finished and now we have some new guests in the Dawn. As expected, Samson and those that the Master Chief had rescued before have returned and have requested to take residence in the Chief's base of operations along with some other wandering souls who joined them. Naturally you can bet that the Chief is not going to be all that thrilled with the idea but these people will be of great help to him in the soon to come point as they will set up in the Dawn and actually turn it into a community.

And it also seems that the Night Elves that John had rescued had come there to help their savior in any possible way with Tyrande's blessing, along with a number of warriors to join the Spartan's ranks. And Thrall seems to be willing to show his support in another fashion as he has sent a number of Peons to work there in the lands of the Spartan to help ensure that he is giving some greater level of support to the human.

Though you can bet that John will have to reconsider the size of his base and will have to expand the walls around the Dawn, and that is to make it a lot more spacious to the people who will soon be taking their residence with him and Cortana there. So I decided to revamp the base design and also have some new buildings erected as well. This should actually turn the base of the Spartan into an actual fortress. And at least with the aid of the wisps that Tyrande had dispatched with the groups of Night Elves, there is no need for John to cut down trees to build the said buildings in the newly expanded base.

As you can guess, Tyrande is not too happy, but she is pleased as this would be helpful in the long run if she plays her cards right. As for Fandral, you can bet that he will be furious as soon as he figures out what is happening there in the location of the Spartan. But so far he won't find out just yet

Now it seems that John has some observers from the Orcs, namely Harg Steelfang who is a member of the Kor'kron Guard, Igrim Dragonheart a female Orc Shaman, Kargoth Bladewind a male Orc Hunter, and Drogna Wildfury a female Orc Warrior.

They are not alone of course as the Darkspear Trolls themselves have sent their own agents as well, the Spartan now has to deal with having three Trolls in his base from now on. One is Ruskhain himself who he learned was a Hunter, a female Troll named Zallandra who served as one of the few female Troll Shadow Hunters, and another Troll male named Jag'Drel who was a Warrior.

And naturally Cairne has sent three representatives of his own people as well, Thoral Runetotem who is a male Tauren Druid, Halfa Ragetotem, a female Tauren warrior, and Bron Skychaser, a male Tauren Shaman.

Lor'themar sent four new Blood Elves this time to supplement Erin, Janna, and Tannis, the two of them being male and the other two being female, the male Blood Elves are also twin brothers, Talen and Kallis Starshadow

The Forsaken have also sent their own agents as well, though in this case, Sylvanas orders that only two of her people to act as her observers of the Spartan, one of whom is a female Forsaken High Elf Warrior named Alicia Darksteel, she is not a Dark Ranger and is more of a warrior class than a Ranger, but does not look like the typical Undead as she shows no open wounds, bones, sores or any of the sort, in a way, she is like Sylvanas and the other Undead High elves who have regained their bodies.

Why did I take this path? I just wanted to and at any rate, I'll be filling in the gaps on her back story at a much later date so I'll deal with that soon enough. So don't get any ideas on what she will be doing here with the Master Chief and the others. What I can tell you is that while she is a Forsaken, she is among the few of their kindred who seeks to redeem herself in some way or another, not wishing to do evil things and sees her kindred as transformed into horrors. You could say that she is similar to a small number of Forsaken such as Leonid Bartholomew, Kegan Darkmar and Trevor who are recognized in WoW Lore.

Despite this fact, she also knows how wretched and cruel the lives of her fellow Forsaken are, and she wants to show to them just because there is no chance of redemption, it does not mean that they should not at least look for a chance to be redeemed, so unlike the others mentioned, she remains in Undercity and covertly tries to convince her fellow Undead that they can find redemption even if she knows she is skirting the edge of her undead life by doing so while still fighting to keep them safe from those who hate and fear them all.

In simple terms, she is a Pariah among the Forsaken, as she both is fighting for her kindred, yet also trying to make them find another way to freedom, a freedom she knows is impossible to get, but she still wants her people to reach for it anyway.

Sylvanas knows this yet instead of having Alicia removed from the city or killed outright and never brought back as punishment, she keeps her in the city and as a Warrior of the Forsaken as she is quite capable and skilled, so Sylvanas does not want to lose such warriors as they need all the warriors they can get for their wars with the Scourge and the living.

But of course, that begs the question on why she assigned Alicia to the Master Chief as well, that is going to be answered soon enough.

…

The next in the pair that the Banshee Queen sends is a male Forsaken Mage named Derek Thornton and he specializes in the use of many of the Mage's recognized offensive and defensive spells. He is a former human and has a number of scars on his body that show damage from being attacked by the Scourge when he was still very much alive in the lands of Lordaeron. He hides them using bandages of course and is not entirely rotting in the face so he shows his face and does not hide anything from anyone nearby.

He is the counter to Alicia as he is loyal to the Forsaken, he therefore naturally does not believe in redemption and is loyal to Sylvanas as well. He serves as a front line Mage and is trained in the use of Swords and has learned how to cast some spells with one hand while fighting with his sword at the same time. He is naturally restricted as a Mage and so wears only cloth armor and is not as durable, but by being Undead, crossing water is no problem for him. And since he happens to embrace the way of the Forsaken with all of his Undead being, he is selected by Sylvanas to observe and record all that he can about the Spartan and also take part in what she has planned for the Spartan and keep an eye on Alicia who is key to what she has in mind.

What that is I am keeping under wraps for today…

At any rate, with that out of the way, we now make our move to the Alliance lands and we might get a number of people from the Alliance to join the Spartan and his A.I companion in the Dawn. Though how is the Chief going to maintain the peace with members of both factions under his roof is going to be a mission, no ifs or buts about those stated facts.

…

I have plenty of plans for this story and most are hidden away in my brain to stew for a while so that they will be good enough to be…

The one plan I CAN reveal is that I am considering the suggestions of some of the ideas and I might make the move of having John and Cortana get some company from their own world so I hope this can silence some of the questions if I plan to have some UNSC personnel in this story. I plan to have a number of OCs join it and they will be part of the base itself. But they are not a massive force so don't expect a division of UNSC personnel to just suddenly pop out of nowhere. Who those are and how did they get into the world of WoW, you'll find out in the soon to come chapters.

As for the Arbiter, the Separatists, and the other UNSC characters who many of you might want to join up with John and Cortana, let ME decide if I want to put them or not, I'll think of some way soon enough.

Bye!


	17. Chapter 17

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own WoW or Halo, plain and simple…

Chapter 9

Part 4

Full House…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn…

Kaelyn woke up early and decided to get some time for herself to get her mind cleared from all that had happened in the past few months. She looked about and decided to get some shooting done, it was the only thing that calmed her mind somewhat. As she made it to the training yard, she took out her bow and began to fire arrows at the target. It was still very early in the day and it was dark as night. But that was hardly a concern for her as her eyesight was still at their peak in the dark areas.

The sounds of her arrows hitting the target soothed her mind as she focused herself on getting her skills back on track. It had been some time since she had some time for herself and therefore she was not keen on wasting it away in the ship. As she continued to fire several more arrows at the target she began to think back on a number of things…one of which was her current situation and how she should be dealing with this matter. She had to admit that being here was not too bad and yet it was not easy for her. She still had levels of distrust towards the Orcs and knowing that they were in their lands was not easy for her, even if they were under the watch of the human.

At that train of thought, she stopped shooting with an arrow still in her bow and tried to think about what she could on the matter. However before she could think about the situation a bit more clearly, she heard footsteps and before she could stop herself, her battle honed instincts took over and she quickly turned and released her arrow through pure instinct. And as she was about to shout out a warning…

Her arrow was caught by the Spartan in his right hand…

John looked at Kaelyn with a surprised look that was hidden in his MJOLNIR Mark VI's helmet as he still had her arrow in his hand, barely inches from the visor of his helmet, normally he wouldn't have bothered as the shields would not have been damaged and neither would the visor but he caught the arrow anyway since there was no need for him to let his shield meter be depleted. He looked at the Night Elf's wide eyes and spoke to her.

"You want to explain to me what that was about?"

Kaelyn couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed about the whole thing and quickly replied.

"Sorry…trained reflexes."

John was not entirely convinced with the whole thing but decided not to bother with the details for the time being as he moved over and handed the arrow back to the Night Elf.

"Right…why are you up so early?"

The Night Elf took the arrow and placed it back into her bow and aimed once more at the target as she replied to the question.

"I had a lot on my mind, so I needed some time for myself, better to have it this early than later."

The Spartan said nothing as he observed Kaelyn as she fired her arrow at the target, and he watched as she hit it dead center with each shot. He had to give her credit for being this good with a bow, then again, her people had millennia of practice considering what he had managed to learn about them. He had no problem seeing in the dark even if he didn't have his MJOLNIR on and after a while he looked to see that Kaelyn had stopped shooting and seemed to be relaxed for now, he said nothing and just enjoyed the solitude for a while.

The Night Elf then moved to recover her arrows and the Spartan joined her as he looked at her handiwork up close. When they arrived at the target, he quickly determined that her shots had been deeply wounding and critical as well had this been a living target, and he spoke about that very well to her.

"You shoot very well."

"Yes…well, I have plenty of reason to do so. Being a veteran and all in several wars kind of requires one to learn how to kill quickly and effectively."

The Spartan looked at her carefully and sensed that there was more to it than that, however he decided that it would be better to let her say it if she wanted to. Right now however, he needed to know what she was thinking with the situation as it was right now.

"Kaelyn, I need to ask you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Do you personally have problems with the idea of having the Horde here in your lands?"

The Night Elf was confused by this and spoke out her confusion on the whole thing to the Spartan.

"What exactly do you mean by that? It was your decision to allow them here in your location."

"True, but I have no doubts that you and your people are not happy with the whole thing, I read all I need to know about the conflicts, still, I need to know what you think of the whole situation in your perspective."

The Night Elf thought it over and decided to speak about her own thoughts as he had asked her for own opinion.

"I do not like them at all, even after all I have seen, that hardly means that I have completely forgotten how many of my sisters and brothers fell before their people's weapons and magic. Even if there were those among their people who regret how things turned out, I still do not think I will forget neither the war nor the enmity between our race and theirs."

John could see that she was telling him the truth and she was honest about that, and he approved of that at least. He however hoped that her anger towards the Orcs was not going to cause any trouble here. The racial problems with Erin and her Blood Elf kin were bad enough, adding the current issues her people had with the Orcs was no doubt going to make things a lot more interesting.

"I see, I can only hope then that you don't let your anger become overpowering on the matter."

"I'll try to keep that in mind, if I do develop a problem, you'd be the first to know."

The Spartan smirked a little at that and decided to take the time to go for a visual inspection of the place, many of the people were already sleeping and he naturally carried no weapons since firing them was no doubt going to cause quite the stir so early in the morning. As they made it to the outer wall, John moved up and quickly allowed himself to scan the area while Kaelyn did the same though she afterwards looked at the stars.

John noted that and spoke.

"You like looking at the stars?"

Kaelyn smiled a bit and replied.

"I do, I…used to spend time with my parents looking at the stars, and I wondered about what was there with them, if there were others touched by the Light of Elune. Or in other words, if there were other beings there somewhere. I guess you're living proof that there is life beyond the stars Spartan."

John noted the irony of that statement just as Kaelyn spoke to him once more.

"What about you? Did you used to look at the stars, asking the same thing I did?"

That question was more than enough to remind the Spartan of his past conversation with Kelly when they were kids back on Reach. That memory was bittersweet, sweet in the sense that it brought him back to a time when he was not as hardened as he was now, and bitter in the sense that he was right, there was someone up there looking back at them, only they had the proverbial sword to his people's throat.

"I did, and you already know how that turned out."

The Night Elf nodded solemnly at that and spoke to the Spartan, she realized that this was actually the first time that she had been in private with the man without anyone else in the way and she was going to make the best of it.

"I'm sorry if I brought that up, still there is a part of me that wants to see the stars myself, though I doubt I can have that chance."

John didn't know why but he decided to keep that idea in mind for a much later use. For now he decided to just have this conversation with the Sentinel, in truth he hardly knew much about Kaelyn herself and since she was the first person he had ever met, a more serious conversation with her didn't seem like too much trouble since he had time on his hands.

"How long have you been a Sentinel?"

"I joined the Sentinels when they were first formed at the end of the fall of the civilization my people once had long ago and served with them for a long time, right after I recovered from the death of my parents and trained to be one of the best. The fact that I have a high rank there proves that I have done my best to be there. It's been years since I was child so I hardly remember when I joined. But I had always wanted to defend my people for a long time so I do not have any regrets towards me decision to be who I am."

"I see…"

"By the way Spartan, I have to ask something of importance to my mind for some time."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"How are you handling this world of ours? I mean, with all the magic and other races? Considering where you come from, this must be…alien to you in more ways than one."

John sighed a bit and replied to that question easily though it was interesting to have that question asked of him by a resident in this world instead of Cortana this time around.

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole idea of magic being common, mythical creatures being the norm here, and trying to absorb the possibility of divine beings actually being real, if I didn't see any of this with my own eyes I'd think I've lost my mind long ago."

Kaelyn had no problem picturing the whole thing and smiled a bit at that, as this showed that the Spartan, despite his…uniqueness was very much still human. She then spoke to him with the same smile on her face.

"You should imagine how we feel, learning about the UNSC and seeing just how far technology could advance. If we had never met you before and saw all the things you have, including this ship of yours, we'd thought you were mad."

The Spartan chuckled a bit and that was not lost to Kaelyn as she found the sound of him laughing to be nice, no doubt it was rare for someone of his caliber to be humorous and to see it for herself was rather nice. It was then that the Master Chief once more to her.

"I am curious about one thing, you seem more…comfortable with the technology I have with me, I recall you were not exactly thrilled with you saw it."

"Well, you never used it on any of my people with malicious intent for one thing, if you did, then I would certainly object and we'd be fighting each other, I might lose of course, but I would have done it either way. Besides, even if you used little of it, you healed my injuries with it so it's not all bad."

The conversation between the two lasted a bit longer and as the light of dawn came, the two of them headed off to their own duties, Kaelyn headed off to see to the others while John got himself ready for the rest of the day to happen, he had no doubts in his mind that before this day was over, he was going to have to deal with a large number of problems that was soon to come.

…

Later in the day…

And sure enough, he was right…

There had been a near battle between Kaylai the Night Elf Demon Hunter and one of the Orcs, namely the female warrior Drogna. The whole thing started out when the Orc contingent had witnessed the Night Elf Demon Hunter training in the yard with her blades, Kargoth then commented that it was hard to imagine that she was willing to partake in the demon taint to fight them when she already had her skills to work against them.

Kaylai replied that it was her choice to do so and she accepted the risks with it, and pointed out they were ones to talk about partaking of Demon Blood, citing their history as servants of the Legion, unlike her who took this power to turn it against the Legion. Essentially she had called them merely pawns of the Legion though not out in the open.

Naturally that comment didn't sit well with the Orcs though Harg seemed to be more understanding of the situation, it was only the female Orc warrior Drogna who took serious offense to that and willingly challenged the Demon Hunter there and then . Kaylai agreed and wasted no time as the faced one another in battle, a duel of honor as it were. However, it was not long before the battle turned serious enough to warrant Cortana to get his attention while he had been talking with Samson on getting the latest information about that was happening in the lands of Azeroth when the old man had been in his former home after so many years as a slave. He arrived right in time when both were showing in their body language that the two of them were going to kill each other, he quickly moved in to put a stop to this before the two female warriors put one another in an early grave.

He caught Drogna's weapon in mid swing and did the same the Kaylai's left War Blades, catching both weapons with his bare hands mere seconds before the two warriors could really kill one another in combat. The two were surprised at how quickly he had got between them and caught both their weapons with only his hands. Drogna tried to free her weapon but that was not working as John had her weapon in a vice like death grip, and while her eyes were no longer there and covered by his blind fold, Kaylai's face betrayed her surprise as she herself couldn't free her weapon from the man's grasp.

John looked slowly at both the Orc and the Night Elf in a wordless order for them to stand down, and after a moment of hesitation, the two women did so, and only when he could see them relax and felt their grips on their weapons ease did he relent to letting their weapons go.

After the two women were in a calmer state of mind, he gave the two a chance to tell him what exactly happened between the two of them and when he got the details right, he let them go, reminding them that while he can understand their respective thoughts, he was not going to let it turn to the point where they would kill one another. The two were rather reluctant on the matter and he had no doubt that if given the chance, those two would come back to settle the matter between them. But this time, they had an idea of what they should expect if he caught them fighting.

…

This was but the first of many headaches he had to deal with in trying to keep members from two different sides from harming one another through words, actions, and a combination of the two. The Tauren and the Night Elves thankfully got along with one another very well so he hardly had any issues in this front, but the Tauren's relations with the High Elves who were using Arcane Magic on more than one instance was a problem.

He had caught Thoral talking to one of the High Elves and stating that she should not use such dangerous magic such as Arcane magic, and he suggested taking Druidism or Shamanism as it was more 'natural'. As expected, the High Elf replied that she was not interest in learning such an art and pointed out that she had been using Arcane magic for so long it was as natural to her breathing, sleeping, and eating so doing something like learn either Shamanism and Druidism was not in her blood.

Thoral insisted that she could learn and he was willing to teach her, but that only served to anger the High Elf and she replied that she was not interested. Thoral then replied that he now could see just why many of his fellow Tauren saw the High Elves and humans who used Arcane Magic as children. That really got things heated between the two as the High Elf was angered by the way Thoral was referring to her as a child and the whole situation was turning into a shouting match.

The Spartan would have left that alone had it not been for the fact that the High Elf was summoning a fireball of all things, forcing Thoral to defend himself with a spell of his own. That was when he stepped in to put a stop to that before it really got out of hand. As soon as he got between the two magic users, he looked at the Tauren Druid and the High Elf flatly told them to stop this nonsense right now, the Tauren did so willingly while the High Elf was a bit slower in deactivating her spell. He then spoke to the Druid and reminded him that he had no authority to force the High Elf to change her ways by himself and it must be of her own choice to learn Druidism or Shamanism, there was nothing worse than an unwilling student in his mind.

Thoral thought it over and nodded at that, he apologized for causing the Spartan trouble, as he left while John pointed out to the High Elf that it she ever did that again with others, it would only serve to further show to the Tauren that their use of Arcane power was a mistake in their eyes. The High Elf was not happy either but decided not to pursue the matter as she moved on. This really was something that John was not keen on having again, though he hardly was going to hold his breath on the matter.

…

He then had to deal with the Human side of the equation as several of the humans complained about having the Forsaken in the place, citing that they are abominations to the Holy Light and even if they represented the Forsaken of the Horde, they should not be allowed to move so freely even if there were two of them.

Alicia wanted to settle the matter peacefully but Derek snidely commented that the humans were being foolish and weak minded about their beliefs, stating that they had never experienced the life of the Forsaken and shouldn't be saying things far beyond their grasp. That naturally didn't sit well with the Humans and the Spartan was about to intervene. The situation didn't end badly however as the female Forsaken sternly told Derek to stop and turned to the humans and stated that while she was not happy with their accusations, she knew that they had a point for their words.

The Spartan took note of that quickly and wondered what exactly was the deal with that Forsaken female and why was it that unlike her fellow representative, she seemed to take a keen interest in maintain good relations. But he also maintained a level of wariness towards her, she had to prove to him that he could trust her and the rest of her kindred as he was still wary of Jaina's previous warning

…

In the Dawn's converted archive room…

By the arrival of midday, the Spartan had to remedy at least a full dozen squabbles and near fights between the various groups that made up this base of his their home. The various interracial relations between the Orcs, Humans, Night Elves, High Elves, Blood Elves, Forsaken, Trolls, and the Tauren have been a real test of his patience though the Trolls, Orcs, and Tauren were at least in good terms with one another. One squabble had him going between the High Elves from Samson's group with the Blood Elves, another near fight was between the High Elves and the Orcs, another squabble was between the Night Elves and the Forsaken, the list could go on and on.

He was so tempted to send them all home to their respective lands so he could have some peace and quiet. But he also knew that if he did that, it was going to be taken advantage of by those who would love nothing more than to cause discord and trouble, and used to further complicate the situation. And for a brief moment, he began to understand just why he would usually hear the Marines comment that the only thing that comes a bare second to the problems the Covenant caused the UNSC was politics and the politicians.

Thankfully he knew that these representatives would be required to routinely return back to their respective cities in order to give their reports on their observations and progress so he hardly had to worry about them too much. Keeping the peace with him being the mediator was a completely different thing for the Spartan, he was usually solving problems with more direct methods so playing mediator was new to him.

All of these things were straining on his patience and it was only through hard training and years of discipline and experience did he keep his cool the whole time. As of now, he had requested some solitude and was alone with Cortana who appeared next to him through a holo-tank while he drank a cup of coffee slowly, allowing the beverage to work it's magic on him and the near silence with the sound of the low hum of the data archives acting like a soothing balm on his ears..

Cortana could easily see the stress on her protector's face and she already had a very good idea as to why he was like this.

"You all right?"

John shook his head and replied as he placed down the cup.

"I feel like I'm trying to keep several groups of teen gangs from beating each other up, and the irony of it is, all of them are adults and even older than I am."

"I can see that, you seem to be doing all right though."

"For today…I can bet that for the next few days it's going to be even harder to keep the peace between them all."

Cortana nodded at that as well as she knew that with the complex web of relationships these various races had with one another, keeping the peace was not going to be an easy thing, even more so when there was every chance that there were soon going to be more of them who would be joining from the other member races of the Alliance. The good news was that they were not going to have to deal with the representatives for too long.

John had decided to set the rule, that after the end of two weeks stay here in the base, they would move back to their racial capitals to give their reports to their leaders, and come back after three or four days, depending on their own decision to do so.

This way it would be less of a strain on the current people who resided in the base already, both in terms of supplies, materials, and of course, their relationships. The Night Elves didn't need to leave as these were their lands to begin with and the only Blood Elves who would remain are the ones who he had work with the longest, namely Erin, Tannis, and Janna. He didn't want the Night Elves and the Blood Elves, who's respective hatred for one another might boil over to open conflict, though it seemed that Kaelyn and her comrades were getting a bit more tolerant of Erin, Janna, and Tannis' presence. He had a thought of that being wishful thinking, but it seemed to be the case for now.

It was not much, but at the very least, this would ensure that this would ease tensions even just a little between both sides if they were allowed to take time apart to cool their heads and think clearly on how to best deal with one another when they came back here to fulfill their duties. He planned to tell the representatives this later in the day and see how they reacted. As he finished his coffee, he grabbed a nearby box which was a simple container filled with grape flavored hard candy and took a piece into his mouth.

As soon as he did so, the tension in his face eased, to most, this kind of candy was common place, but for John, it was among the very few pleasures for him and fellow Spartans. This used to be a covert reward that Dr. Halsey used to give him and the others when they performed better than before and they treasured these sweets very much. It was actually a minor miracle he even found these and kept them secret from everyone except Cortana.

The A.I smiled gently as she looked at John, having her maker's memories made her understand just why he acted this way to merely eating some candy, though she recalled that John usually got a slightly larger bit of grape candy from Dr. Catherine. She then spoke as John seemed to relax even more in a teasing tone.

"Feeling better now big guy?"

John nodded at that and that was enough as he took his helmet and placed it back on, ready to face the rest of the day since it was still going to be a long process of trying his best to help keep the peace. As soon as he was done, he took Cortana into the MJOLNIR and she then gave him the latest reports as she had handled the security recording while he had been recovering from the stress of the day. That was what he needed to see after picking up his MA5C Assault Rifle and M7S SMG and placed them on his back and right thigh as he did his work

Most of the time he looked to see that there was still tension among the residents of this base of his and he couldn't help but sigh and wonder for a brief moment just how he had gotten himself roped into this sort of situation. But he had to admit that he should have expected this to happen the very second he made his presence known to the rest of the races of this world that he was now stuck in until he was rescued. Besides, he did agree to have the Horde sent these people so it was his decision.

…

The rest of the day proceeded slowly for the Master Chief as he would routinely move about and oversee the usual activities and also try to settle disputes as best he could whenever they would rise up and also get to know more of the people who lived there. There was little need to learn about Samson and his group as he had known of them before, and he went to the Peons who were assigned to him by Thrall, checking their working conditions and current state of mind so this would help him figure out more about Orc culture only through the eyes of those who were treated as the lesser sub species of Orcs.

It was a surprise for the Peons, but they hardly complained at this, he would also do his best to speak to the other members to get the feel of the situation that was going to be his to deal with for a while. He also decided to have a communal meal for the rest of the day to cover the noon and nightly meal, having the Orcs, Humans, High Elves, Half Elves, Night Elves, Tauren, Blood Elves, Trolls, and the Forsaken to eat together in an open area, while he observed them all in a less formal setting. The groups naturally kept to themselves but there was interaction between the groups of the Horde with one another and the same could be said for the members of the Alliance though there was still tension between the Night Elves and the High Elves.

Once the meal ended, thankfully without incident, though what was the reason was still up for debate, he spoke to the gathered groups, namely the Horde groups and told them of his plans to allow them to return to their respective race's capital cities to give their reports to their leaders and come back if and when they chose to do so. This was met with some level of surprise but it seemed that this decision was going to be agreed upon.

He then reminded them of the incidents this day and how he was not going to let those events reach the point of no return, he was going to allow them to duel over matters that would be allowed or to argue to one another, but when there was intent to wound, or kill then he was going to throw them out for good, this was not a threat but a promise. Afterwards, he allowed them to go about their business and he went to work gathering more information as Cortana had her eyes on the base so she recorded everything that was going on with the representatives of the Horde and this helped her develop her translation programs for Orcish, Taur-ahe, Gutter-speak, and Zandali.

The presence of the Horde representatives at least provided Cortana an excellent chance to learn more of their native languages and since they were all in one place, it was better this way as this gave her a good sample size to work with when it came to translating the languages that was present in the Horde. However, this was not the only thing that John and Cortana were working on, as they would routinely be working in gathering materials together, namely Mithril and Truesilver as John decided that now was a good a time as any to begin working on a new arsenal that would prove to be an effective weapon if he encountered enemies that would be able to withstand his regular weapons.

This was due to his encounter with the Naga from before and also he knew that there were going to be more creatures that he had to be prepared for in the near future. They might have abilities and traits that would weaken or nullify his regular weapons and ammunition so no sense thinking outside the box on this situation. He already had some plans and decided to implement them when the time was right.

…

Two weeks later…

The next fourteen days had been quite an experience for the Spartan as he had been working to not only handle the base's various needs but also to deal with other problems that had been cropping up recently. The problems included probing forces of the Twilight's Hammer Clan who had been trying to find new areas to attack and naturally he decided to remedy that by going out to hunt down these forces and eliminate them quietly before they could get word back to their other forces.

Cortana naturally was his eyes in the sky and when he went out he usually was joined by the representatives of the Horde to see him in action. When Cortana guided him to the target he usually had a Sniper Rifle with him and quickly located the real threats, namely their Warlock support casters. Once they were identified, the Spartan was quick to eliminate them quickly, cutting down the magical support of the Twilight's Hammer Clan forces and any chance of backup.

Once the warlocks were dealt with and several of the heavier support troopers were dealt with, the Spartan moved in and attacked. Cutting down the renegade clan's forces with guns, swords, knife, and hand to hand combat tactics, making sure to effectively eliminate the forces and keep his base from taking a direct attack. So far, the probing forces were not that hard to eliminate though they did have heavier support forces in with them who proved to be a challenge every now and then.

However this also allowed John to see the Horde representatives in action as they were able to prove that their fighting skills were very effective with the situations that appeared before them. The Tauren proved their strength to be worth having in the Horde while both the Trolls and the Orcs were good to see in combat, and even though there were only two of them, the Forsaken agents proved to be rather capable in their own right. The Blood Elves also proved to be effective in battle though he could see that their use of arcane magic didn't sit well with both the Tauren and the Night Elves.

The Twilight's Hammer Clan were not the only problems John had to deal with, as roving bands of Satyrs would routinely show up to cause trouble as they would be around and would routinely come too close to the base itself. He had accompanied the Night Elves who would sometimes go out and take care of the Satyrs before they became a serious problem and this allowed him to see the new Night Elves in battle and he had to admit that both the Warden and the Demon Hunter were quite skilled at what they were trained to do. This also led to him and the others defending small villages that were in the area as well as outposts owned by the Night Elves that would come under attack occasionally and while the residents welcomed the aid, not all of them were happy to see the Demon Hunter.

They were certainly confused and not happy to see the Horde representatives with the exception of the Tauren, but so far, there had been no hostile reaction for the Night Elf residents of said outposts and villages. No doubt due to the presence of their fellow Night Elves, and the warden convincing them that these Horde representatives were not hostile to them.

The Satyrs were not the only threats as wild animals that were filled with corruption were other threats that he and the others routinely had to deal with and reports of roving Naga were also enough to keep him and the others busy. The Horde representatives were helping in these matters and so far, the results were pretty good in John's eyes as he could see that if the Alliance and the Horde were able to put their differences aside, they were effective fighting side by side if any threat cropped up to warrant such an alliance.

High Priestess Tyrande had become aware of this and had sent several messages of thanks to John and the others in the base, as their forces, being spread thin as it was and still trying to recover couldn't handle all of the growing threats in Kalimdor's lands and their people. This was the sending of supplies and spare weapons that were taken in by the Night Elves for use in the base, all of which was deeply appreciated by the Spartan.

. So far the Spartan had to give the Horde leadership credit for choosing these people well. Of course, that certainly didn't mean that it was going to be easy for the rest of the two weeks.

When he was not dealing with roving bands of Twilight's Hammer Clan forces, the wild animals that were corrupted by the Legion, the Naga, and the Satyrs, he would be dealing with the still present tension between the Alliance and Horde groups. He had to make sure that the tension didn't lead to blood being spilled and when there were arguments, at least he used the ideas of duels to settle it which were not battles to the death. This was respected enough by the Orcs and the Trolls were willing to work with that kind of arrangement for the time being, though the Night Elves were not too happy with it. That was no doubt due to their hatred for the Orcs and their deeds in the past. Thankfully the Tauren, being peaceful beings by nature, preferred to settle disputes with words so they were not into spilling blood unless for good reason.

…

Through this, John managed to work a bit more with the others who he had been with for some time, he had been able to speak with Sandra and ask her questions on what she had been doing long before he ever met her. The female Night Elf Hunter was more than willing to talk to the Spartan on such things about herself.

John learned that days after the Third War, Sandra had taken the desire to see other lands, as she had been curious as to where the Humans and other races came from, which was why she decided to leave the Sentinels behind and become a Hunter. This was not well received by her best friend and actually commanding officer Kaelyn, but she agreed and that was why she left the lands of her people. She had learned from a veteran Hunter named Thardell who was more than willing to help her as her already well honed Sentinel skills would work well with her new life as Hunter, and during her training, it was there that she got White Claw as her pet.

She also told him about how she found the Humans, they were not a bad people, though many of them could be just as villainous as they were heroic. They were not that bad either as allies and companions, and were….not too bad in more serious company and had some very interesting ideas from time to time. The way the Night Elf female smiled was more than enough to give the Spartan an exact idea on what she was referring to and shook his head at this.

She did however state that she usually took a special herbal medicine to avoid having children as of yet, no doubt because she had a serious life as a Hunter and it was better not to have children in that kind of life. She wasn't adverse to the idea though, it was just not yet time for her to be a mother in her mind. It was then that John asked her why there seemed to be rather few Night Elf children as far as he had seen in their city and villages, Reisha being the only exception to the rule thus far.

Sandra explained that the Night Elves were immortal before and during the Third war due to the World Tree and the blessing of nature so they hardly thought having children was needed and only had a few every century or so. That was changing now that they were mortal and could age and die like the younger races, which was why Night Elf couples were now doing their best to have children to ensure that their people would recover.

John understood that as he read the records of the Wars and the histories as well. That was when he asked about her experiences with the other races.

Sandra laughed a bit and replied to that as she told him that the Dwarves were not a bad sort and neither were the Gnomes, but the more…lecherous ones of them were worse than the Humans since despite the height difference, they had very….creative ways to peek at people. She replied that she usually had to keep a dagger close at hand and also make sure to double check any rooms she was sleeping in from time to time. However, they were quite capable and skilled in their own rights when it came to fighting in the field.

All in all, she found the younger races to be rather exciting and that was the reason why so many of those her age were willing to leave Kalimdor's shores despite the isolationism of her people. Not to mention it helped broaden her perspectives on things that her people were only barely beginning or even willing to embrace. Still she did make it a habit to return to Kalimdor every now and then to see her beloved homeland and her people, as well as help out in whatever tasks her people need done.

Apart from Sandra, he also took the time to observe the other members of the Night Elf contingent, he spotted that there seemed to be some considerable bonding going on between the new female Druid who was an old friend of Jarrod while the two were currently handling some of the animals in the base, he hardly bothered with that or what Jarrod and his female friend did together as it was not his concern. He only hoped that they were a bit more secretive about their closeness. It was not that he was adverse to intimacy as he had seen public displays of affection or PDA as he had seen it before, but it was a distraction to his military mind.

He had other things to do as of this moment so he focused his attention on the Warden and the Demon Hunter. The two females were certainly different in not just their appearance, weapons, armor, and fighting styles but their abilities. While the Warden preferred to teleport in and out of combat to strike fast and hard against her foes and unleashing a barrage of knives as well as using a living shadow being as support, the Demon Hunter was able to use the powers of Fel Magic to attack the energy of spell casters, cast a cloak of living flame around herself, and according to what he was able to learn, have the ability to turn into a demon form.

He had not seen that yet, but considering what he had learned previously about her order, it hardly surprised him that she and others like her were hardly trusted by others among their very own race. Still there was no denying that their abilities were exceptionally effective against magic users and had been very useful to see in combat, and in more ways than one.

Cortana had been studying the records he had on the Horde in action as well as the new Night Elves and the A.I was already finding ways to exploit any weak points in them and their tactics which John could use if the need came to that end. The A.I also was working on studying the magical energies that were present in many of the beings who were in the base. The presence of the Horde representatives and those of the Alliance gave the A.I a good sample size to run tests on how to synthesize the energies of magic and their effects. This could prove to be a vital key to fighting more powerful foes in the near future, and would actually improve their abilities for defense and offense.

Of course, he had to take a more direct approach to the members of the Horde, namely when he had caught the Forsaken Mage Derek attempting to enter the ship. He had covertly tracked the Forsaken Mage the very second Cortana warned him that the Mage had gotten into the ship. So far, the Mage had no idea he was there until he tried to enter one of the armories and he revealed himself, aiming a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle right at the Forsaken Mage's head.

The Mage was surprised at how the Spartan had found him and he tried to come up with an explanation as to why he was there while looking at the barrel of the weapon. While he had never seen this particular weapon before, he had seen some of the other weapons the Spartan had already used so he had an idea of what this could do to him. The Spartan however didn't buy his excused and demanded in a cold, emotionless tone what he was doing in the ship when he was not yet allowed to enter the vessel.

Derek wanted to use his magic but it was not long before the Spartan was joined by the Night Elves, Kaelyn, Sandra, Kaylai and Keina were surprised at this and wondered just what was going on between the Spartan and the Undead mage. Seeing that he was in a very serious situation, the Undead Mage surrendered and awaited the Spartan's judgment. He didn't have to wait for long as the Spartan grabbed him hard by his robes and warned him that this was his very first offense. It was not bad enough to warrant him being thrown out of the Dawn, but it was enough to have him restrained from ever coming into the base. If he was caught there again, he would be sent back to the Horde lands and to stay there until Sylvanas chose a replacement.

Derek couldn't see the Spartan's face, if he even had a face underneath that armor, but he could sense that he meant it. There was nothing to be gained by resisting and after seeing the Spartan tear apart the forces of the Satyrs, the Twilight's Hammer Clan, and the Naga, the Undead mage decided to agree to the terms and left while being watched by the armored human from the stars while he was quickly escorted by the Night Elves.

As he looked at the Forsaken male, John made it a point to speak to Alicia and see just what she had to say for her partner's actions. This…breach was a cause for concern already and this further cemented Jaina's warning to be wary of Sylvanas to him from before. He left the Dawn and headed to the Forsaken section and easily found Alicia and spoke to the Forsaken High Elf.

She was surprised by what he told her and spoke that she knew nothing of what Derek was planning and vowed to him that he would find out what he was attempting. Cortana had been listening to her voice and replied that while the woman was technically a living corpse, she was telling them the truth, she didn't have any idea as to why her partner had attempted to infiltrate the base of the Spartan. Alicia vowed to get answers soon and hope that this was not going to force them to leave this place.

John decided to take a risk, as he usually did, and replied that they were not going to be thrown out, for now. If there was ever an attempt like this once more, then they would be thrown out without question and he would no longer accept any member of the Forsaken into the base ever again, as he would mark them as hostile. When questioned by Alicia the wisdom of the decision due to the Forsaken being part of the Horde, the Spartan replied that this only applied to the Forsaken and he would make sure to prove his point to the rest of the Horde leadership as well.

Alicia agreed to that and as soon as Derek arrived, she spoke to him harshly and vowed that the next time he would leave, she was going to keep an eye on him no matter what he said. Derek gave her a smile that was supposed to show that he was all right with it. But John was not fooled; there was a level of hostility in the Mage's eyes towards not just him, but his partner as well. This further confused the Spartan and told him that there was something more going on here that he was not yet able to see. There was something being planned, but until he had gathered more evidence to uncover what was going on, any premature move to uncover it would only make things get worse.

After the end of two weeks, he gave the order for the Horde representatives to return to their racial capitals and since they were in a massive force, he doubted that they would encounter trouble…of course the Blood Elves who were new to his base were not too happy with the fact that three of their kindred remained but they decided not to argue as this was still to their advantage.

With that done, John now directed his full attention to other matters…

…

Two days after the Horde groups left…

John sighed as he powered up the Albatross and got ready for his new trip back to Azeroth to make his last run in meeting the rest of the Alliance races. He knew already of the High Elves, the Humans, and the Dwarves but he was not sure about how much he knew of them completely, which was why he was making this trip to meet the rest of the races on this world.

As he did so, he decided to pick up his MA5C Assault Rifle, however, this weapon was different from the regular Assault Rifles that John usually had on his person, it was colored the same way as the regular rifle but actually had silvery edges in some areas of the weapon itself and was actually much lighter than before. He also took a look at the bullets he had with him. They were still the same 7.62mm rounds as before but instead of the usual copper and brass that made the bullet, they were all silvery hued.

The MA5C he carried was constructed completely out of Mithril which he then enameled black and grey to hide it's appearance. Because the metal was as strong as steel but lighter and could be made in any possible fashion, John and Cortana decided to use it to make this Assault Rifle. While weight was never an issue with the MA5C, looking for titanium proved to be very difficult and with no record of any possible supply of the material, they knew that a substitute was needed until they found a viable source of Titanium. Mithril was titanium's closest match in terms of durability and weight but was also much easier to find and a bit easier to process than regular Titanium.

The process was long and arduous to say the very least but the results were worth it. The weapon was just as strong and as reliable as the original MA5C and up to the finest UNSC standard. But it did have some modifications. Namely the recoil systems were made stronger and more resilient to stress and corrosion, this meant that it could handle even more firing cycles and could also increase accuracy if and when needed. The Assault Rifle also now had an expanded magazine to carry a full fifty rounds worth of ammunition, increasing the amount of rounds he could put into the air and right into a target if needed.

This new Assault Rifle variant can use the standard rounds and the new ones that he and Cortana had been able to make which was soon going to be put to good use in the field. Cortana dubbed it as the MA5C Mark II Assault Rifle and it seemed to fit the description as while it was the same in design and function of the MA5C, it was a lot lighter and stronger.

The bullets themselves were also different. While they were the same as his standard ammunition for the Assault Rifle, the bullets were actually made with a core of Mithril and also coated by Truesilver and their shell casings had been replaced by Mithril. The reason for the Mithril being used for the casings and the inner core of the bullets was the fact that since they were made from Mithril, they were much lighter than regular bullets and therefore the clips could carry more of them. With the strength of steel working for them, the Mithril and Truesilver coated 7.62mm NATO rounds could be more than enough to work still as anti-armor bullets, but because of the coating of Truesilver, these bullets were also perfect in bypassing magical defenses or nullifying any possible magical supporting effects any spell caster might use on themselves or their allies.

Cortana had found a way to copy the energy needed to replicate magical enchantments to a level that was up to what was needed to pass as magic though it was more of a neutral variant of the magical energy, having no ties to Arcane, Fel, Druidism, Shamanism, or Holy. Nevertheless, the rounds would prove helpful once they were tested in battle.

The A.I dubbed them as 'Anti-magic' rounds and wanted to see them field tested if they had the chance. These rounds could be carrying in at least twelve clips, giving the Master Chief a full five hundred of these 'Anti-magic' rounds along with his standard FMJ rounds for the new MA5C Mark II that he had on hand. These were not the only things John and Cortana had worked on as he moved to get another weapon made from Mithril…this was an SRS99D S2 AM Mark II Sniper Rifle.

Like is MA5C Mark II cousin, this Mark II Sniper Rifle was comprised entirely of Mithril with some ceramics added in between to balance it out. It was still built to the standard of the UNSC but was significantly lighter than the standard Sniper Rifle, and as such, was far easier to carry and could handle a full six rounds. The new Sniper Rifle was still compatible with the basic rounds, but it also could use 'Anti-magic' versions of the 14.5x114mm APFSDS and was useful in taking out any magic user at long range or taking out armored targets who would be wearing any enchanted armor system on them.

With both weapons there, John took one of his katanas and placed it on the side of the rucksack that was on his back alongside the Mark II Sniper Rifle and took out a Combat Knife which he placed on his back and placed a pair of M6G Magnums on his thigh armor. The rucksack naturally stored extra of the standard rounds as well as the 'Anti-magic' rounds as well as the basic medical supplies as well as MREs and water canteens.

He then took his MA5C Mark II and when he had the weapon in hand, Cortana spoke to him to turn around as they had a guest. He turned to look at the arrival of Jaina who had recently come to speak to him to see how he was doing for the time being as she had not been in the Dawn for some time and wanted to see how he was doing for now. He quickly bowed to the Archmage and spoke to her.

"Greetings to you Lady Proudmoore, I admit seeing you is a surprise but it's not bad.."

Jaina smiled in greeting and replied.

"The same to you Spartan and I am sorry for surprising you with my unexpected arrival, I am happy to see that you are in good health, though judging by the way you seem to be getting armed up, I assume you are planning something?"

John nodded and explained that he was planning to go back to Azeroth to finish his work in learning more of the other races there, namely the Dwarves, the Gnomes, and also if possible, the Draenei if he could go there. This way, he would be able to complete his actions in knowing all of the races that called this world their home though in this case, it would be the remaining member races of the Alliance and afterwards, he would take the time to compile all of his information and take the time to recover and plan out his next set of moves while awaiting any possible rescue attempt by the UNSC.

The Archmage listened well and noted something about his gear and looked at the MA5C Mark II, something about it was different and she spoke to the Spartan.

"That weapon of yours…it seems rather different somehow."

John explained what it was and Jaina was intrigued, this was not the first time she had seen a gun made from Mithril, but never one made like this and before she could stop herself, she asked the Spartan a question.

"May I hold this?"

The Spartan was surprised but decided to agree, but not before removing the clip there and then ejecting the round that was inside of the weapon. He then placed the round back into the clip and gave the weapon to the Archmage as she placed aside her staff for now and held the weapon. Sure enough, the Assault Rifle was very light and could be easily carried by the Mage even though she didn't exactly have the same strength to hold and carry such a weapon .

Jaina naturally had no idea how to hold the weapon and had some struggles with it until the Spartan moved and began to show her how to use it.

"Here, place the butt of the weapon on your shoulder, move your right arm back to make a more comfortable position, hold this part of the Assault Rifle with your left hand to steady it."

"All right….there, is that good?"

John observed the Archmage' posture with the Assault Rifle and after seeing that she was doing well enough despite her lack of experience with such weapons, he nodded a bit.

"Good, I took out the bullets so you don't have to worry about shooting anyone or anything. Now take a good look at the target and press the trigger gently."

Jaina did as she was told by the Spartan and felt the slight kick there, and afterwards, she gave the weapon back to the Spartan who reloaded the weapon, just as the three Night Elves who were the members of his Core group arrived along with Erin and her companions Tannis and Janna. Only this time, the Night Elves were not alone as Kaisha, Kaylai, and Keina as the others remained back in the base to hold the fort so to speak. As soon as they were there, the Spartan decided to get going and finished making the checks on the Albatross until Jaina spoke to him.

"Spartan, may I ask a favor?"

"Yes?"

"I'll join you on this trip of yours, only this time, I would rather be in this ship instead of using my magic, I have been curious about how travel in this will differ from flying in the mounts we use for transport."

…

John didn't see any problem with that and nodded as he and the others got into the ship, once inside he showed Jaina where to sit and how the straps worked to keep her there on the chair during take off to avoid injury. Once he got into the cockpit, he powered up the Albatross and as soon as he got the all clear, he took off while the Dawn was on full system lockdown with Cortana's A.I copy watching over the base. Jaina and the others were soon released by the restraints and they got to see the world once more in the viewing areas for Jaina. The Archmage was happy to see the lands once more and while she was not able to feel the air as she normally would in a Gnomish airship or at times, a Goblin Zeppelin, flying in the massive Albatross was a very different experience as it was a smooth flight.

She looked about in the vessel and it was then that Cortana appeared in her outfit and the A.I spoke to the Archmage in a humored tone.

"How do you like the trip Lady Proudmoore?"

"It's…different from what I'm used to, that much is certain."

The A.I chuckled a bit and replied.

"I can see that, don't mind the ship though, this is a military heavy class drop-ship and serves as a command center and mobile base, so it's hardly the kind that caters for comfort."

"I sort of guessed that early on Cortana, at any rate, I have a feeling that this meeting with the remaining member races of the Alliance should be interesting. They've already gotten word of you and the Master Chief, so you can bet that they are very interested in meeting you two directly. Gelbin Mekkatorque has a lot of interest and the same could be said for Magni Bronzebeard himself."

Cortana nodded as the Albatross was moving quickly through the skies with it making a beeline to the capital city of Stormwind. John already knew that since Stormwind was connected to Ironforge by a massive tram system, he could get there quickly to the Dwarven capital easily enough and save himself the trip by foot or by air. As soon as the Albatross arrived over Azeroth's coastline, he began to scan the area to find a viable landing spot and as soon as he found it, he began to guide the ship down to the ground and soon the Drop-ship hit the land gently.

John scanned the area before he placed his hand on the nearby holo-tank and was soon greeted by the ice cold water feeling again that told him that Cortana was now with him. The A.I spoke to him once more as always.

"You up for this last series of meetings with the rest of the major races on this world we happen to be in John?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with, I've got a feeling that after this, things for the both of us are only going to get a lot more complicated from here on out."

"True, time to face the music big guy."

As soon as that was done, the Spartan moved out while carrying the Mark II Assault Rifle in hand while Jaina was with him along with the others. Once they were out of the Albatross, the ship was soon on lockdown and no longer able to be accessed by anyone else but the Spartan and the A.I.

Jaina was worried about that somewhat and voiced her concern, however John replied that with it on lockdown, no one was going to have an easy time entering the ship. Seeing that he was serious about that, the Archmage decided to agree with him for now and soon they were off to Stormwind. They arrived near Goldshire and while the people there showed some level of surprise and hostility to the new Blood Elves along with Erin herself they remained away due to the presence of Jaina and the Spartan Commando as well as the Night Elves who were with them, though there was some level of wariness when they spotted the Night Elf Demon Hunter.

So far, they made it to the city without much incident and made their way to the castle, it was here that they were greeted by none other than prince Anduin, the young man still carried his bow and arrows on his back and smiled in greeting at the arrivals.

"Good to see you all once more, it's been some time since you're last visit to Stormwind Lady Jaina, Spartan. You've picked a rather interesting time to arrive though."

"What do you mean by that Prince Anduin?"

"We have some guests here, Rhonin and his wife Vereesa and their two sons are here today to discuss the current situation with the Kirin Tor in Dalaran, and so is the leader of the Draenei Prophet Velen, they seem to be in deep discussion with some troubling things there in Outland that the Alliance should be getting ready to deal with."

Cortana smiled at that and spoke John.

"Well, at least we're spared the expense of finding one of the leaders of the other members of the Alliance, lucky us."

"Luck's got little to do with that Cortana, but I guess this will help us more."

Jaina smiled, it had been some time since she had seen both Rhonin and Vereesa and it would be good to see how they were doing, not to mention seeing their two young children there as well. The Archmage was on good terms with Rhonin and considered the man to be a lot wiser and more open minded than most. Not to mention the fact that he was among those like her who believed in the idea of cooperation between the various races that called this world home. Besides, this would be a good chance for the master Chief to meet the leader of the Kirin Tor as well, and establish a wider understanding of the other beings that were considered neutral in the world of Azeroth.

She then turned to the Spartan and spoke to him and the others.

"Now seems like a good time to go in, but I believe it would be best that we are on good behavior, Vereesa is a High Elf and does not have much love for Blood Elves so don't be surprised if she shows some level of hostility to your Blood Elf companions though she might make the exception for a Farstrider since she is a Ranger herself."

That was not lost to the Blood Elves as all thereof them already knew of Vereesa, she was considered to be one of the best of the Windrunner sisters next to her sisters Sylvanas and Alleria. And she was known to be saddened by the transformation of her sister into what she was now while not being in the best of moods towards Blood Elves. However, they had already arrived so there was no reason for them to delay what they knew they had to do anyhow.

…

In Stormwind Keep…

As they all entered the castle with Anduin guiding them, it was not long before they arrived at the Throne Room and there was Varian, Bolvar, and Tirion who were talking to three new people. One was a Draenei who wore robes that resembled that of a Priest, though in this case, the robes were more ornate and designed, signifying that this Draenei was of higher rank and no doubt was the Draenei leader, the Prophet Velen as he was called. The other two were a couple as they were rather close, the High elf woman had all the features that would make her a woman who could easily catch a man's eye if she wanted.

But she carried herself as a warrior and wore the armor and clothing of one as well, she also had a blue tabard that had some symbols on it along with a short sword on her hip and a bow with a large quiver of arrows on her back. She held the hands of two children, who were Half Elves from the way they had both human and elven features. No doubt that this was Vereesa Windrunner and the man she was with was no doubt her husband Rhonin, leader of the Kirin Tor.

John activated the magical scanner in his helmet and saw that the man had a large amount of arcane power so he was a high ranking Archmage, the Spartan II also saw that he carried both a sword and a staff as well. His robes were also elaborate and had metallic armor as well and after scanning the metal, the Spartan could see that the metal was enchanted and was the reason why the man was able to wear it without being worn down.

The Master Chief had read about Dalaran and knew that the reborn city was the center of arcane teaching in his readings in the libraries of Stormwind the last time he had been here in the city itself. The city served also as a training site for Mages, and Sorceresses and he knew that practically all of the arcane users in the Alliance including Jaina had been studying there. The city was ruled by the Kirin Tor and was what he would describe as a Mageocracy and had a standing army though not in the same level as the other member nations of the Alliance during the Second War.

He also read about the time it had been attacked by the Scourge led by Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to retrieve an artifact to bring in the rest of the Burning Legion into the world of Azeroth. Afterwards, the city was rebuilt and while still technically part of the Alliance, it was now an independent force that sought balance in the world that it was still very much part of. So far, this information was going to prove helpful in the long run as he now knew just what other nations there were that he had to deal with who were not hostile to say the least. As they walked in, they were soon spotted by the King of Stormwind and his advisor and the head of the Paladin Order, the man smiled a bit in greeting and that was enough for the others to turn about to see just who the King was directing his attention to.

Rhonin raised his eyebrow as he spotted the group, it was not often that he would see a number of Night Elves together, especially a Warden and a Demon Hunter together, and he was surprised to see three Blood Elves as well. But what got the Mage's attention was the armored human who was being accompanied by the said Elves and Archmage Jaina Proudmoore. He turned to see Vereesa's look of anger towards the Blood Elves so he spoke gently to her.

"Vereesa, please do not start something, besides, King Varian is here and so is Bolvar and Tirion, I doubt that they are the enemy since they had been allowed to come in here and they are accompanied by Jaina herself."

The High Elf replied to her husband's words.

"I understand what you are trying to say beloved, but I hardly doubt that it will be that easy…besides, both Galdarin and Giramar don't take particularly well with the Blood Elves."

Rhonin could see that as his sons were hiding behind their mother, no doubt recalling how their uncle who was a Blood Elf tried to kidnap them for his own devices. He smiled gently as his sons and they seemed to relax as they realized that with both their mother and father with them, they were in very good hands.

Rhonin then directed his look at the armored human, the being wore armor that the Mage had never seen before and he could sense no magic there, yet somehow he could sense the aura of a warrior in the armor and the weapons he carried with like the same types of guns he had seen carried by members of the Alliance, yet these weapons were unlike anything he had see as of yet. The massive rifle in the back would be impossible even for a Dwarven Marksman to carry easily and the two guns on the thigh armor were unlike any pistol he had seen. And the weapon in the man's hands was certainly different from the ones he was familiar with, along with the sword on his back

All in all, the being had more than enough weaponry to turn him into an armory on legs, Vereesa herself was curious of the man and spoke.

"Who or what is that? It looks human, but I've never seen anything like that armor he carried nor those weapons of his."

"I don't know either dear, but if he's traveling with the Night Elves and both Jaina and Varian seem to be all right with his presence in Stormwind, it's a safe guess that he is not an enemy of ours."

Velen himself looked at the massive and armored human before him, he was just as Emissary Valustraa described all those months before, there was power there as the man walked towards them and while the leader of the Draenei was able to see that the power had nothing to do with magic of any kind, there was no denying the power there. The Draenei Prophet decided to move forward and speak to the Spartan in the Common tongue, hoping that his actions would not be considered as a hostile action by the warrior.

Fortunately for the Draenei leader, John didn't react in a hostile manner and seemed calm as the Draenei leader was now before him.

"Greetings to you human, I have heard much about you from Emissary Valustraa when she returned from her time with the Night Elves. I must admit that until I saw you and all that you have with you, I had some….doubts about what she told me and the rest of the council that I am part of. Now that I see you in person, my doubts have faded. No doubt you know who I am?"

John nodded and replied.

"You are Prophet Velen, leader of the Draenei."

Velen smiled and replied.

"And you Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 of the United Nations Space Command Navy. Emissary Valustraa told us of your origins so I will not ask of your story as I have no desire to meddle in your affairs unless you will be willing to speak of it. I will admit that hearing of this group of humans who you come from having such a powerful empire in the stars in terms of technology is surprising to say the very least. Normally it would have been quite an event had my people met your race…though I have no doubt that it would not be an easy meeting."

John had to admit that he smiled slightly at that as Velen moved aside and allowed him to meet the people in the throne room, and as soon as introductions were placed aside, John was in a discussion with King Varian, Bolvar, and Tirion about what had happened. Naturally Varian was not happy with the news that the Horde had agents in where the Spartan was located even though it was not really his concern as the Spartan had already proven his neutrality and after knowing that he had decimated the Defias Brotherhood with his solo attack in their own base of operations, he doubted that the Horde forces would have an easy time of subduing the armored human from the stars.

However he worried what would happen if the Horde would somehow gain the technology this man possessed. He recalled the meeting he first had with the man and the weapons he carried as well as the ship and the Armor, the idea of the Horde getting their hands on even a fraction of the stuff was not sitting well with the King of Stormwind. As the discussion ended he asked for a shorter version of the Chief's full story as well as about himself and what he had become. Seeing no harm in that, the Chief did so with Rhonin, Bolvar, Tirion, and Vereesa listening in while Velen was true to his word and stayed out of the conversation and also managed to keep both the sons of Rhonin and Vereesa out of the conversation for now. Naturally in line with UNSC protocol and secrecy, John didn't mention the augmentations to the King though he didn't mind talking about the results of the said augmentations too much

Once it was over, Varian began to regard the Spartan with a good deal of respect, he didn't like the fact that the man had been placed into such a life, but there was no denying the results. Rhonin was wrapping his mind around such concepts and so did his wife, since for the two of them who had been so used to the idea of magic, the idea of humans having that kind of power without the aid of magic was…rather hard to fathom though the proof was right there as well. Both Bolvar and Tirion were also impressed though they were slightly disturbed by what the Spartan said about himself and his past.

Still, both men didn't condemn the man, after all, considering what they had heard, the results were more than enough to prove that the actions were justified for the survival of their people. At this point Varian voiced his dislike for the idea of the Horde sending their agents into the base of the Spartan to keep an eye on him. When Jaina protested that, Varian pointed out that while Jaina might trust Thrall as well as some of the leaders, there were those in the Horde who would take advantage of such a situation.

Jaina nodded in agreement there, pointing out her action of being wary of Sylvanas but not of Thrall, Cairne, and Vol'jin. Varian nodded a bit that but he still pointed out that while he had no doubt that the Night Elves were more than able to handle their affairs concerning the Spartan, considering the fact that he was in their lands, he was still not in agreement with the idea of them being the only representatives of the Alliance as a whole.

John then asked what was it that Varian had in mind, and the King replied that he wanted to have some more of the Alliance races, which naturally included his race, and that of the Dwarves and the Gnomes to have some measure of presence there to help their Night Elf kin to keep an eye on the Horde in general, and he had no doubt that the Draenei would want to have some of their own representatives there as well.

John directed his attention to Velen and the Prophet replied.

"I have considered sending some of my people to aid you Spartan, of course, I prefer that you are receptive to the idea. You see, while my people and I had determined that you are not an enemy, you are not yet an ally as well, as such we have decided to give you aid if we can be able to do so. The reason we have not done so is because we do not know of your exact location and we do respect the Night Elves so we have not sent our people to their lands as of yet."

"If you agree to having a small group of our people there in your lands, then we shall send those who we know can be trusted of our people and aid you in whatever situation you need to take care of when the time comes. If you say no to that, we will respect your wishes either way."

John was surprised and so was Cortana at this as she spoke to her protector.

"Now that's rather new, it's your call Chief."

John thought it over and considered the idea of having the Draenei in his base of all things, it would help a good deal in having some of the Draenei race present so at least he could learn more of this Alliance race as he noted that there were not that many of them in his travels as of now. The fact was that Velen was willing to agree to him saying no to the offer was kind of new to him in many ways as most people would have wanted to keep a sharp eye on things that they didn't understand nor encountered before.

Still….he could use all the help he could get. It didn't take long for him to reply.

"I accept the offer, but I will have rules of my own to give to the representatives of not just your people, but of the Alliance as well."

Varian and his advisors were curious and so was Velen as well as Rhonin and his family, the King was the first to speak on the matter that was on their minds when the Spartan spoke those things.

"What sort of rules do you have in mind?"

The Spartan filled them in on a variation of the same rules he had given to the Horde representatives before, though this one was custom tailored for the Alliance. And as he was finished doing so, Bolvar spoke that the terms were quite reasonable and fair for all involved, Varian thought that over and so did Tirion, while Rhonin and Vereesa were thinking things over until Rhonin asked permission from Varian to go back to Dalaran for a while to discuss some matters with his wife and the rest of the Kirin Tor. Varian nodded and this was where Velen also asked permission to return to the Exodar and convey a message to his people about what the Spartan spoke of and if possible, find those willing to go to his base of operations to aid him as they can.

As soon as everything was now in action, King Varian spoke to the Spartan.

"Well, you managed to get just about everyone scrambling for something Spartan, at any rate, I too will find representatives of my people as well, Bolvar and Tirion will also help me to find any other viable candidates for our group. At any rate, I'll have to send word to Magni and Gelbin to expect you if you decide to pay them a visit."

Jaina then spoke to them.

"I will handle it and then I will head back to Theramore, there's still a lot of things that I need to take care of back there. I'll be seeing you all soon and Chief."

John looked at Jaina as she smiled warmly at him and she spoke.

"Thanks for the trip."

With that done, the Archmage made her spell and teleported towards Ironforge and that left the Spartan and his group alone with King Varian and both Bolvar and Tirion. The King then directed his attention to the Spartan and spoke to him directly as Anduin walked to be with his father beside the throne.

"Ironforge is located in Dun Morogh and is a fair distance from here on foot, I have no doubt that you could use that transport of yours to get there. But I believe there is a better solution. Both Ironforge and Stormwind City are connected by two methods of transportation, the first is by Gryphon, though multiple trips would take too long. The other way is by Tram, the tram happens to be located in the Dwarven district here in Stormwind, you can use that to get there without any problems."

John nodded and moved out with the rest of his group to the Dwarven district. Once they arrived there in the district, they were able to find the tram itself and boarded it. Once they were all onboard, the Tram was well on it's way to the city of the Dwarves

…

In Ironforge…

As soon as the group stepped out of the tram that led them to the city of Ironforge, they were soon greeted by a large contingent of Ironforge Dwarves carrying a fair amount of weapons and wearing heavy armor, no doubt they were the security force for the city itself. The Dwarves were not alone as a number of Gnomes were there as well and they were also armed. John fought down the trained urge to ready his weapons, reminding himself that he was not in enemy territory and he quickly told Erin and her two companions to relax when he noted them tensing up after being surrounded by the Dwarves and the Gnomes.

It was not long before two figures appeared towards the group of the Spartan, John spotted them easily enough and quickly studied them. Seeing the elaborate yet highly functional looking armor the two personages had on them, the weapons they carried, and the fact that they were being escorted by a considerably well armed force, the Spartan determined that these two must be the leaders of the Dwarves and the Gnomes. The Dwarf leader had a deep beard in bronze color, and carried himself as a warrior king, and must be King Magni Bronzebeard himself as John had read on the books in Stormwind city. The Spartan then wagered a guess that his companion was no doubt High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque current leader of the Gnomes as well. As soon as the groups faced one another, Magni spoke in his people's tongue and Gelbin did the same, making the force that blocked the Spartan's group move aside and allow them to pass. John was quick to pick up on that and motioned his group to move forward. He could see that their arrival had attracted quite the audience from the rest of the residents of Ironforge but paid them no mind as he focused his full attention on the two leaders before him.

Magni spoke then to the Spartan in Common.

"Hail to you Spartan, I finally get to meet you face to face."

Gelbin nodded as well, focusing his attention on the gear the Spartan had with him.

"I can say the same thing, I have been wanting to meet you for some time as well."

John then spoke formally, keeping in mind that they were both high ranking people in the city and should be respected.

"You are King Magni Bronzebeard and High Tinker Mekkatorque I presume?"

Magni laughed a bit at that.

"Nicely done Spartan, you are correct, and as such, I bid you welcome in my people's fair city. We received Lady Proudmoore earlier and she told us to expect you and your party before she went back to overseeing things back in Theramore Isle. I'll have to give you credit lad for the company you keep. It must not be easy keeping the two groups from harming one another."

John shrugged and replied.

"Nothing's ever easy in life."

Gelbin nodded in full agreement to that.

"That is true, however, I would like to ask something."

John wondered what the Gnome leader was thinking about asking him, though he had a fairly accurate idea on what that might be, considering the way the Gnome looked at him or rather his gear. And Gelbin's next choice of words confirmed the Spartan's observations.

"I have heard of these weapons you have while they are impressive to look at, I would like to see them in action."

Magni raised an eyebrow at this and spoke to his ally.

"What exactly do you have in mind Gelbin?"

"A simple comparison of our technology to his Magni, namely a test of his guns against our own, one of my people's best marksmen and another from yours in a shooting competition with the man so we can see what sort of power his technology has. There's no wager here, merely a test of technology, namely with the Long Rifles of our people."

Magni thought that over a bit and while he liked the idea, he wanted to make sure that the man in question was actually willing to go along with what his colleague had in mind. He turned and spoke to the Spartan in all seriousness.

"Well, I can't say that I'm against the idea, as it is fair and there's no reason not to have it done, but what about you Spartan, you all right with what my colleague has in mind?"

John thought it over and seeing no harm in that, replied.

"None."

This brought a smile on Gelbin's face and Magni as they turned some of their guards and spoke to them in their respective native languages and soon the word was out for the best marksmen of the Dwarves and the Gnomes to go head to head with the Spartan as he and his group were escorted to the place where such competitions were held.

…

In the special shooting range…

This location was constructed to serve as a shooting area for the elite Dwarven Riflemen and marksmen of the Dwarven Armies, in the shooting range were a number of rooms, some were used to store spare parts and tools to upgrade or maintain the weapons used there, another was used to store the gunpowder and bullets needed, and the last were various guns in storage, and the last room contained a number of various targets of different sizes as well as other things that could be called upon for use by those using the range.

It also had a large wall of stone that could be moved away on advanced steam powered mechanisms to allow marksmen to practice the art of long range shooting with Long Rifles on targets that would be ferried out from Ironforge and placed into the lad by a pair of Gryphon Riders who were there as well.

Here, the various marksmen of the Alliance came to train their skills in shooting as well as interact with one another, trading stories back and forth and also showing each other's shooting skills. There were also friendly competitions hosted there between the groups there to see who could really do some impossible shots with their weapons of choice.

Now however, the place was going to play host to a far different kind of competition as a large number people came in with the Master Chief and his group being led by Magni, Gelbin, their guards and the others who resided in Ironforge. The dwarven king spoke to the operators to open the stone wall and they did so, the sounds of stone grinding on stone was heard briefly until the oiled rails handled the rest and soon the wall was out of the way as the two leaders took to their seats.

The gathered Dwarves and the Gnomes looked as two of their respective race's marksmen got into position while the Spartan looked on to see the targets that they had in mind for the competition. Next to them were the other residents of Ironforge who were curious about this competition and also wondering about how the armored human would perform against two of the best marksmen of the Gnomes and the Dwarves.

Daine Eagle-eye and Hagin Iron sights looked at their custom made rifles and were eager to put their skills to the test against this armored human and that massive rifle of his to see just how effective they were in battle. Both of them were confident of their skills and their weapons as they each took aim at their targets which were a good five hundred meters away from them. They loaded their weapons and took aim.

John spotted the targets which were simple wooden blocks with the basic targeting markers on them, and they were at least half a mile away, right in range for the long rifles that were being carried by the two marksmen. However, the Spartan could see that the range of the targets was too easy to reach with his Sniper Rifle and would prove hardly a challenge to his skills and his weapon. Cortana thought the very same thing as she spoke to him.

"Half a mile, that's too short a distance for the Sniper Rifle to show it's full power John, I think it's best we show them just what your weapon can do."

"You sure that's a wise idea?"

"Yes, I can tell that many of them have some level of doubt on the power of the weapon and think it's merely a toy, I believe we should show them otherwise. Besides, you were challenged by them to a competition so I think it's far better that we go all out so we don't have to worry about anyone asking questions when they see you in action. And, this will be a good test of the new weapon anyway, we haven't tested the Sniper Rifle and see if the Mithril can handle the stress. "

John knew that Cortana was right and decided to go through with the idea just as the two marksmen fired their weapons, the Spartan checked and they were able to hit their targets dead center and as he looked back at them, they were reloading their weapons in the same fashion as a standard musket rifle. He then waited patiently while checking his own weapon just as the two marksmen fired two more rounds before they stopped firing.

Once that was done, the audience turned and the gryphon riders who were there to get the targets moved out and after a few minutes, the two came back and there in the targets were the bullets deep in the middle. The audience cheered with the exception of the Night elves who were with him and Erin as well as her group. King Magni then turned his attention towards the Spartan and so did Gelbin Mekkatorque as the Dwarven king spoke.

"I believe it's now your turn lad, show us what that weapon of yours can do."

John nodded and removed the Sniper Rifle from his back with one hand and placed down his MA5C Mark II and decided to make some changes, just to make things interesting. He turned to one of the warriors there and spoke seriously.

"Do you happen to have a set of plate-mail?"

The warrior trainer was confused by this and Gelbin spoke.

"Why are you asking for a suit of plate-mail? You already have an impressive suit of Armor as it is."

"It's not for me, it's for the target, I would also like it stuffed with animal flesh to simulate a living target. This way you can see how effective this weapon of mine is."

The two racial leaders looked at one another and decided to do it for the sake of seeing just what was the Spartan was planning. They gave their consent and that was enough to get the warrior trainer to go and get out a suit of plate-mail, but the Spartan then spoke out to the warrior trainer.

"No, I need a freshly made suit of armor, and it has to be strong and tough enough, have it at least two inches thick and made of high tensile strength steel."

The Dwarf looked at the King and Magno nodded, he shrugged and moved back into the store-room and took out a set of plate-mail. The Spartan looked it over and nodded, it was then that a number of Gnomes returned with several packs of freshly salted meat. It was a struggle to place the meat around the target and tie it there with metal coil wire, once that was done, the soldiers then placed the plate-mail chest piece on. Once that was done, the Spartan examined the target and nodded his approval.

John decided not to use the 'Anti-magic' Rounds and stick with the basic rounds of the Sniper Rifle as he loaded the standard rounds in the new Mithril clip and spoke to one of the Gryphon Riders who had been one of the pair that brought the previous targets of the two marksmen.

"Put that target a full mile and a half."

The audience was surprised by this and many of the marksmen, Humans, Gnomes and Dwarves who were there were surprised and rather confused, that was well beyond the range of any of their Long Rifles. Did this new stranger in armor think he could hit any target at that range with that mammoth of a weapon? This they had to see…

The same could be said for his Night Elf companions, namely the trio who knew him first, they had already seen his guns in action and Kaelyn herself had already seen the massive weapon in action, but she had never seen this gun fire at that range before. She was actually interested in seeing just how powerful this gun is herself, namely with such a range to shoot at. Erin herself was curious just how the Spartan was going to accomplish this. The others watched on to see this action of his.

Magni and his advisors who had arrived when the news reached them of the competition as well as Gelbin looked on in interest as the Gryphon Rider did so and soon the target was well beyond the sight range of the audience as well as the two racial leaders. They all watched eagerly at this as the Spartan took aim while standing up with the Sniper Rifle.

He seemed to stand still and become like a statue. In his mind, the Spartan was already making the many calculations that were needed for a shot like this. Things such as wind speed, distance, bullet drop, heat distortion, wind direction, elevation, and target visibility ran through his mind as high speed with Cortana helping out with the other more complex data.

He did all of this in a few moments and when he was done and had the target dead center in the chest…an exact kill shot, he then gently pressed the trigger of the weapon.

BOOM!

A massive roar filled the area and the audience actually winced at the sound of the weapon, they looked to see a clean smoke trail and as they watched a massive shell of metal landed on the ground with the rifle still smoking. Magni then looked at the Gryphon Rider who had placed the target at the distance requested by the Spartan, silently telling them to retrieve it.

The Dwarf did so and after waiting for a bit, the Spartan merely placed the massive Sniper Rifle on his back with a thump just as the Gryphon Rider returned to the area, and then the Gryphon placed the target down for all to see as the two leaders of their respective races looked at the target.

Magni was utterly surprised by this as he looked at the fist sized hole in the plate armor that covered the target both in the front as well as the back. The round had torn through the plate armor like it was nothing but paper. Gelbin was in the same situation as his dwarven counter-part as he couldn't help but marvel at the size of the bullet wound that was there in the target which was wearing plate-mail and had flesh. The two of them looked at the wound and knew that the area where the bullet hit, was where the heart of a human would be, ensuring a painful and bloody death when the person realized he had been shot, if he was still alive that is.

The two looked at the massive weapon which was still in the hands of the Spartan and couldn't help but gulp a bit at the implications of what they had just seen.

The people who able to see the damage on the target were looking wide eyed at the fist sized hole that was there through the armor, the flesh, and the wood. The target was turned around to show that the hole was also present in the back, showing to their shocked eyes that the round had gone clean through the target. No round they had could be able to do that at such a distance. John's companions were also impressed, the same could be said for Kaylai and Keina who looked at the weapon that the Spartan on hand.

John however decide to up the ante so to speak.

"King Bronzebeard, with your permission, I would like to request another set of targets which have the same features as this one, only this time, I need a full dozen and a half at two miles and all targets have to be in a line, as well as having solid steel shields in front of them."

…

The audience as well as Magni and Gelbin were very much surprised by the Spartan's request and the two kings nodded as the warrior trainer went to work and was not alone this time around as some other students helped their trainer in getting a dozen more targets and just as much meat and plate-mail as well as the shields, and while this was happening, the Spartan was taking his time and checking his Sniper Rifle and making some calibrations on it as well as making sure that there were now flaws in the weapon itself.

As soon as the targets were there, it took two Gryphon Riders to take the targets at the required distance and position, once they flew back, the audience looked on, eager to see just what the Spartan intended to do this time. John relaxed himself, ran through the calculations in his head, factoring in the number of targets as well as the thickness of the shields this time around. As soon as he was done, he looked and aimed dead center like before and pressed the trigger.

BOOM!

The roar of the Sniper Rifle was heard once more and there was once again a trail of smoke that showed the path of the bullet as it left the Sniper Rifle. The Spartan looked through the scope and saw that the bullet had hit the target dead center as the vapor trail already began to fade. He looked at the wound there and nodded his approval a bit while Cortana spoke to him in private.

"Nice shot, the bullet went down a bit though."

"I know, but it's still a dead center hit."

Gelbin and Magni looked at the Gryphon Riders and the two of them moved out to retrieve the targets. The first four arrived minutes later and soon the rest of the targets were brought in for the people to look at while the Spartan looked his weapon over. To the magnified shock of the gathered residents of Ironforge, the bullet had not just punched through the shield, the plate-mail, the flesh, and the wood from front and back, the bullet did the same thing to all eleven other targets. The bullet had not only torn through the first target, but did the exact same thing to the eleven other targets as if they were not even there to begin with.

The audience were not the only ones who were stunned as the Night Elves and Blood Elves who were part of John's group as they had never expected that massive rifle to have that level of power. Both Kaelyn and Jarrod had seen the weapon before and saw the power it had when they had met the Spartan the first time he came to their lands, and on their missions of hunting the forces of the Twilight's Hammer Clan, the Satyrs, and the Naga. But to know that it could do that to a single target at such a distance and do that to a line of targets…

It was a very interesting experience…as for Erin and her companions; they were surprised to see the weapon in action at that range. Most of the time they had seen him use that weapon, he would usually aim at the Warlocks and spell casters and take them out easily. But this was the first time they had been able to see him take out targets at such a distance and being able to take out an entire line of targets.

One thing was certain to the residents of Ironforge, this weapon that he carried was not merely for appearance, the evidence before all of them proved that. Many of the marksmen who were there to see the weapon in action were utterly surprised as it had just outperformed all of their weapons and it was a very odd feeling that many of them had in their minds as well as their bodies. It was then that one of the Dwarves, Daine himself spoke to the Spartan.

"That was some impressive shooting lad, you mind if I get to fire this weapon of yours for a wee bit?"

John nodded and handed his weapon to the Dwarf marksman. Daine had to admit that holding the weapon itself was something that really sent a shiver down his spine. The thing was huge, it was an effort for him to hold it and carry it to aim it. The Spartan spoke then to him.

"You might want to consider finding a tripod to hold that weapon up, or use the mounting system and lie down on your stomach to stabilize the shot."

"Why would I be doing all that stuff for lad?"

"The weapon packs a good deal of recoil for one."

"Aye, don't worry lad, I've shot straight with me taking in at least sixteen pints of good old Ironforge beer, and hit my target dead center, I think I can handle the kick this weapon of yours can throw at me."

John was about to argue when Cortana spoke to him.

"Let him do it John, this should be interesting to see."

John sighed and nodded to the Dwarf.

"All right then, go ahead."

…

Daine took a good look through the scope of the Sniper Rifle and had to admit that the weapon was actually very impressive. The device used to enhance his sight range was impressive and there were already targeting crosshairs there as well for him to look through. He spotted a small pinecone near a tree a fair distance away, he marveled at how the device attached to the top of the massive rifle was able to see something that small at such a distance, he aimed at the pinecone and pressed the trigger.

BOOM!

Daine fell back hard to his back and coughed out in shock as the weapon unleashed such a blast that he had not expected before, as he fell down in shock, his grip on the weapon failed and it flew out of his hands and was deftly caught by the Spartan. The audience were stunned as the Dwarven marksman managed to right himself and cough out loudly, trying to get his breath back, when he did, he shouted.

"By Modimus Anvilmar's bread, that thing hits harder than anything I've tried! It felt like I got hit by the fist of an angered Tauren and nearly lost my shoulder!"

John took out the clip and removed one of the bullets and showed it to the two marksmen and both Magni and Gelbin as he replied.

"The reason for that is this round, this is a UNSC 14.5x114mm APFSDS, and has enough power to punch through at least one half feet thick reinforced steel. And at 600 yards, I can use this to punch a fist sized hole through thirteen feet of flesh and bone. The reason I suggested that you lay down on your stomach to fire this is because of the recoil of the weapon. It takes some time to get used to this weapon so I'm not surprised that happened."

Daine managed to get up and looked at the weapon and the Spartan was a glint of respect it his eyes and a smile on his face."

"I'll keep that in mind next time laddie, anyway, if you don't mind, I'd like to shoot again."

Magni then replied to that.

"That will be enough for today Daine, me and Gelbin have a lot to discuss with our guest here, but you may get your chance sooner than you think, before that however, go get some rest and await any further orders from me."

The marksman nodded and that was the end of that as the rest of the people in the area moved back to their duties and locations in the city of Ironforge, the only ones who were there were the officers who manned the grounds, the leaders of the two races that called Ironforge their home and their body guards, and the Spartan as well as those who were part of his group.

It was not long before both Magni and Gelbin took the group to the archives of the city of Ironforge. It was here that Cortana had been able to access the history of both the Dwarves and the Gnomes, she took a great deal of time in reading the languages of the two races.

…

Both she and John were together while their group were given a place in the city to rest while they waited for him to return. They were also treated as royal guests by the two leaders so there was a good meal waiting for them already. John and Cortana managed to learn about the two other Dwarven Clans and the War of the Three Hammers, as well as the current situation concerning the Dark Iron Dwarves. He also learned of the fall of the Gnomish city of Gnomeregan to the Troggs and the betrayal of Sicco Thermaplugg, which would explain their presence in the normally dwarven held city.

He read their combined history and could tell that there were some differences between the Dwarves and the Gnomes already apart from their different physical builds.

The Gnomes, while wary of the Orcs due to the Second War seem to be willing to give them a second chance being kind and forgiving by nature, something that was odd in the Alliance considering the three major races of the Alliance have a bitter history with the Orcs. They were wary of the High Elves though not by much and considered the Tauren and Night Elves as rustic. All in all, the Gnomes are a friendly sort and would like to make friends with everyone.

The Dwarves on the other hand were serious in fighting the Horde and it's member races, with the Orcs being the in the forefront of the ire of the Dwarves. They have fought the Orcs for as long as the humans and while they respect the truce, they chafe and the idea of not being able to enter the borders at Durotar. He had no doubt however that there were more adventurous Dwarves who would break the truce and wander on Orcish lands from time to time and do some things of their own, that was something he knew he had to make sure never happened on his watch. They also share a level of mistrust with the Elves and that included Elves in general, and not to a specific branch though the Wildhammer Dwarves were known to have a strong alliance with the High Elves though that alliance didn't extend to the Blood Elves as the Wildhammers were at war with anyone who they saw as members of the Horde on general principle.

With this information in hand, John studied more of the culture of both Dwarves and Gnomes, their technological advances convinced him that it was far better for him to keep both the cache of UNSC and Covenant technology hidden in the Dawn. These people were already advancing well on their own so his interference was not needed as of yet, though the tendency for the Dwarves to drink this much beer and ale would have put them in drinking contests with the UNSC Marines, Air Force, Army and Navy personnel, as well as the ODSTs as he knew that there were a lot of them who fancied themselves as serious drinkers when in peace time.

All of that information was enough for him this time around as he focused on the city itself, the design was pretty good and the city, by this world's standard was high defensible.

With only three possible access routes in and out of the city, the first being on foot, the second via tram, and the next by air, any direct or covert attack would have to be very well coordinated and planned to the letter to work. And it would be a logistical nightmare for any attacking force to ferry troops and supplies to siege Ironforge considering the terrain and location. The Dwarves could easily set up ambushes, bombing runs and more. Plus even if the opposing forces did manage to break into the city, the intricate passage ways would give the defenders a serious tactical and strategic advantage.

…

Of course by his world's standards and methods, this place could easily become a deathtrap, by establishing anti-air networks, destroying the tram and establishing ambush sites of their own as well as using scorched Earth tactics, an attacking force would easily starve the residents of Ironforge into submission and even the city would not stand to the sheer firepower of the UNSC, let alone from Orbital Bombardment if a direct assault was made feasible. He had seen enough of the Covenant to know that if they were attacking Ironforge, they would have used either Scarabs or if they had enough of wasting time trying to defeat the Dwarves on the ground, just glass the mountain from orbit, no mountain could withstand a plasma barrage like that at all.

Once he was finished, he had a chat with the two leaders, both Magni and Gelbin were very eager to learn more about him even though they both had learned much from their ambassadors. He told them the same things he had told Varian and his advisors while still keeping the more sensitive information to himself. The two also asked about his weapons, marveling at the power they had seen. John explained some of the basics to them to fill in the gaps and he explained that their respective race were already well on their way to making their own versions of his weapons so he told them seriously that he had no intention of showing them all the intricate details since their technology was not yet at the level needed to get this far.

Both Gelbin and Magni were not offended as they had already seen some of the power of the weapons this human warrior had on him already. The fact that he had already said that their races were well on their way to reaching this level eased the initial annoyance they felt at not being allowed to study the weapons.

They also asked about his armor and like before, he gave details, but not the exact specifics and replied that it was honestly unknown to him if and when their people would be able to reach the point that they could make armor like his, he replied that their steam armor was interesting to say the least but it was not powerful enough to equal his MJOLNIR. They decided to leave it at that for now though they were rather intrigued by the idea of something that resembled their steam armor yet was made to be like a suit of regular armor. They naturally asked what the name meant and John replied to that since there was no harm in telling them the story behind the name of his Powered Assault Armor.

…

When he mentioned to them the agreement of Varian to send a number of his people to help establish relations with him as well as keep an eye on the Horde representatives in the area of his camp, both were more than willing to send a small detachment of their people there. John then reminded them that he was not going to allow them access to any technology unless it was deemed necessary by him.

He also made it clear that he wanted those they would send will not antagonize the Horde representatives too much and cause incidents that would have the potential to spiral beyond anyone's control. While he was aware that in hindsight, he was asking a lot from them due to their races' history with the Horde, he wanted them to promise to him that their representatives would not cause a mess at all in his territory. He could understand disputes, disagreements, and arguments, and he would allow that as long as it didn't result in weapons being drawn and blood being spilled. If that happened, he was personally going to pack up the offenders and send them home.

Both leaders could see that the Spartan meant it, and considering what they had seen, he had the power and weaponry to back up his promises. They decided that they would at least show that they were willing to play by his rules. After all, he was hardly an enemy of theirs and what they could learn from the man's technology could be useful in the long run, and if possible, they could even ask for his help in matters that were of high value to them and the Alliance as a whole. Besides, if Varian was willing to go this far with the man, then they were all right with that.

Magni was the first to speak.

"All right lad, we'll get some of our people to represent us in your base and we'll make sure that they all will follow your rules once you lay them down. But I can't promise that none of my people will like the idea of working with the Horde all that much."

"I know that, and I'll be ready."

The Dwarf king smiled at that and spoke once more.

"You're quite an interesting one Spartan, I hope that you have time to have a drink with me and my people, but I doubt that you have the time right?"

"I am afraid so, I have much to do and a lot of things to consider, besides I don't drink much."

"Hah! You're missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures when you don't at least get roaring drunk at some point in your life. At any rate lad, I'll make the call to those willing to go with you, it might take a while so you might want to wait either here or in Stormwind itself, if you take the latter choice, I'll send them over via tram, that all right with you?"

"That is fair enough King Bronzebeard, I'll be waiting in Stormwind Keep for their arrival."

Gelbin spoke as well.

"I too will gather those of my people who are willing to go with you to your base Spartan, they will be very interested to see this location you call home. I will make sure that they will abide your rules of course, though do not be surprised if they ask you a number of questions on many things."

The Master Chief shrugged at that and that was enough as they had their meal later on in a hall. The feast was pretty large and there were some good amounts of beer and ale, and though the group ate the food that was presented to them, they all took little of the beer and ale.

Once the feast was over, both Magni and Gelbin went about their duties as the Spartan and his group headed back to the tram station. He could already see that the Night Elves were happy to leave the place for now, no doubt due to their ties to nature and finding themselves in such a place like Ironforge must be hard on them. Once they boarded the tram and were off back to the city of Stormwind, they relaxed a bit and took the time to rest and enjoy the view though John busied himself with other matters, like determining just how much time it would take to get from Ironforge and Stormwind on the Tram.

…

In Stormwind…

Once they arrived into the city, they made their way past the Dwarven district and headed off to the Throne room where it seemed that he didn't have to wait for too long for the representatives of the Humans of the Alliance and of the Draenei. Before him were two humans he was quick to recognize, Dana Tyr, and Talia Vallis, he had not seen them in months now and despite only knowing them briefly, he knew that they were quite capable and the fact that they had the respect of Tirion himself proved that they were not to be underestimated.

There was also another band of humans, at least four of them, one was a female Mage, wearing the markings of the Alliance's 7th Legion, showing that she was not a traveling adventurer but a professional soldier. It would make sense that Varian would be selecting one of his faction's best soldiers for this kind of assignment. The woman had short hair in red and had a circlet of gold with a series of gems there, there were also bracers made of gold with intricate patterns on them and she wore the robes associated with Mages though she seemed different from Jaina as her robes were more elaborate with light red with silver and golden thread patterns as well on them. The woman was also armed she carried a sword instead of a staff or a wand, he also noted that the sword in question was made from Truesilver as well.

The next and the last of the group was a male spell caster, but to the Spartan's surprise, the male was a Warlock of all things, John could tell from scanning the man and detecting the power of Fel Magic on him. He knew that there were Warlocks in the Alliance and the Horde. Thrall naturally had Warlocks placed on a tight lease and watch, and so did the Alliance, from what he had gathered as both sides have some rather dark history with warlocks. They were not trusted but they were still tolerated as long as they didn't allow themselves to be fully corrupted by their dark powers and minions. John expressed his doubts on such things, but seeing as this male Warlock was being watched by those around him, the Spartan was given a small amount of comfort in the fact that the man was going to be watched.

…

John then directed his attention and that of Cortana's to the Draenei contingent, there seemed to be only a small number, at least six of them in all, two were male and four were female. The two male Draenei appeared to be wielding equipment and armor that were used by Paladins as he could see a good deal of the energy associated with the Holy Warriors, though it seemed that their powers were a lot more attuned than the other Paladins he had met, with only Tirion coming to a higher rank. The two wielded different weapons, one carried a shield and a one handed war hammer, though John noted that the head of the weapon was made from a powerful glowing purple crystal.

The four Draenei females were also different, one was a Mage as she wore the robes of one and his scan of her showed a large quantity of arcane energy coming off from her in waves, she also carried a staff that had had the same purple crystal as one of the male Paladins had for the head of his weapon. The next pair of female Draenei were all warriors, one carried a sword that had a build similar to that of a long scimitar and carried a shield in her other hand. While the other was also a warrior and carried a pair of swords as well while wearing light chainmail with sections of plate-armor with it. The last was wearing leather armor and robes as well as a long halberd, and when he looked at her with the magical energy scanner of his MJOLNIR, he was surprised to see her powers being similar to that of the Shamans of the Horde races.

The one thing that tied the group together was a strange symbol of glowing energy on top of their heads. Cortana was very much interested as she had been able to scan the Draenei and saw the symbols actually having tendrils of power connecting to the Draenei themselves and seemed to augment their powers somewhat. This bore some looking into when the time came in her mind.

…

John was then surprised to see another portal open and in walked both Rhonin and Vereesa with a small group of High Elves, and thanks to learning enough of the High Elven language due to Cortana's translation programs and their reading of the archives, the Spartan recognized the High elven name on the tabards of some of the High Elves and on Vereesa…

The Silver Covenant…

The name of Silver Covenant sent a small shiver of dislike in the Spartan, no doubt due to the last name. He however placed that aside as he had been able to read the information on this faction and also reminded himself that this was not the Covenant he had spent many years of his life fighting to guard humanity.

The Silver Covenant was considered as the premier militant arm of the Kirin Tor and served as the main military force of Dalaran after it was rebuilt after the Third War. He was quick to recall the High elven wife of Rhonin, Vereesa had a high standing in this force, in fact, she was supposed to be the Ranger-General of the whole force itself and that was proven by the High Elven symbols on her tabard showing that exact rank. The vast majority of the Silver Covenant comprised of the High Elves who had survived the fall of Quel'Thalas and no doubt want nothing to do with their former kindred, the Blood Elves. There was a scattering of Humans and Dwarves among them, but it was predominantly a High Elf fighting force. And considering their inherent ties to the arcane to the genetic level and their long history, it was rather appropriate as well.

John then realized that if that was the case, it meant that the two were occupying two of the most powerful positions in their home city. There had been families who wielded great power in the history of Earth's civilization, but this was the first time, at least for him, to hear of the husband being in a high political position, and the wife being in a high military position.

Cortana knew that as well and couldn't help but find the concept rather amusing.

"Imagine that John, the husband if the leader of the whole city, while the wife is the head of the military forces….now that is a very interesting family."

"I suppose, but from what I have heard and seen, they deserve their respective positions."

"True…I guess both Rhonin and Vereesa wish to have some agents of their own, thankfully they seem to only be four in number. I guess all the extra room is going to come in handy after all. By the way, we might want to tighten the noose as it were around the Dawn's critical areas as soon as they arrive."

John nodded as he looked at the group from Dalaran, there were four of them, one was a female dressed as a rogue though he noted that the chain-mail armor was constructed from Mithril and she wielded a pair of fist weapons on her hands that were like the Indian weapons known as Katar, the other was a warrior in plate armor and carrying a two handed sword in her hand while wearing plate-mail armor that upon inspection by both the Spartan and the A.I was made from Mithril as well. The two other High Elves were male and wore robes that showed that the two of them were mages and both of them carried staves with glowing crystals on them.

…

It was not long before a large group of Dwarves and Gnomes appeared being led by Magni himself as well as Gelbin. The Dwarven group was of four males with only one female in them, three of the Dwarves were warriors and carrying an assortment of close combat weapons with them as well as wearing armor, the last male Dwarf was none other than Daine himself and still carrying his treasured long rifle as well as several pistols in a belt and a shotgun in a sling on his back and smiling in greeting to the Spartan.

The long Dwarven female was wearing only leather and had a simple short sword and a blunderbuss on her. But she had a pack of tools and other things that one normally associated with a technician or an engineer. This told the Spartan that she was selected as the person to help her comrades maintain their gear as well as no doubt learn more of his technology if she was able to learn them. The woman moved off her goggles and whistled as she looked at the Spartan's gear and smiled eagerly…no doubt hoping for the chance to study them herself.

The Gnomish force were in the same number as their dwarven comrades, there were four males and one female. Only this time, one of the male Gnomes was dressed like an engineer with his goggles on his forehead and he nodded in appreciation as he played with his moustache as he gazed at the Spartan's weaponry and armor.

John recognized one of the remaining male Gnomes to be none other than Hagin himself who was smiling at the Spartan, no doubt sharing the same thoughts of his Dwarven friend when it came to the weapons they had seen before. Like his Dwarven counterpart, he carried his custom made Long Rifle in his hands as well as his shotgun and a single Blunderbuss pistol.

The other two men were both Rogues, they wore black leather armor and both of them carried daggers in their hands. John had already been able to study much of the Gnomes and knew that the two being Rogues would be useful as the smaller size and greater agility of their race made them capable of sneaking into locations in ways that would be unexpected and also attack foes in…unconventional ways if the target in question was unwary.

The lone Gnome female in the group was dressed in mages' robes and carried a staff suited to her size. It was a bit surprising to John that for a technologically inclined race like the Gnomes, there were spell casters like Mages in their society. However, he had read that Gnomes did have a remarkable level of magical energy with their intellect serving them well once they took the path of the Arcane, and there had been Gnomish Mages before so it was a tradition among them.

Both Gelbin and Magni greeted Varian and Velen as well as Rhonin and Vereesa, and then the two leaders greeted the Spartan as well. The two leaders then replied that these were their chosen representatives for their races to the Spartan, and while they would have liked to chat a bit, their duties still called to them, so they had to leave as soon as possible. With that, they left, but not before giving instructions to their representatives in their native tongues. Rhonin and Vereesa did the same thing but not before the High Elf told her soldiers to until further notice and their return, the Spartan was effectively their leader.

John then introduced himself briefly to the assembled representatives, greeting Dana and Talia who were also pleased to see him once more. Once that was done, the representatives were told to follow him as he and his core group then moved out to head back to the still locked down Albatross.

Once they were out of the city of Stormwind and in the forests of Elwynn, the representatives saw the Albatross and they were very much surprised by what they saw before them. After seeing that the drop-ship had not been touched by anything or anyone, John spoke privately to Cortana and the A.I activated the Albatross remotely and it was no longer on lockdown and the Spartan guided them into the heavy drop ship though he had to deal with the looks of surprise by the others before they were finally able to sit down and allow him to get the ship into the air and back into Kalimdor.

…

At the Dawn, hours later…

As the Albatross landed in the base, John sighed a bit as he walked out and was still carrying his Mark II Assault Rifle and full weapons as he was soon joined by the group of Alliance representatives while those who were already with him, namely Erin and her group as well as Kaelyn and the others were out as well. The new representative were now looking at the massive ship in utter surprise, the Draenei representatives being the most obvious in their shock as they had never seen a ship like this before. Even more so when it was a ship that was not powered by Naaru technology as the Exodar was.

The others were also gawking at the sight, both the Dwarves and the Gnomes slapped their heads at the exact same moment as the looked at the sheer size of the vessel, those of their kindred who had come back to Ironforge after being rescued before had spoken of the massive size of the ship but they didn't believe that something like such a ship could exist. But that began to change when they saw the Albatross for the very first time.

The two races began to think about the implications of what they could learn from this human in armor. As for the Draenei, they were surprised as well, to see such a ship, even if it was in such a damaged state, and sense none of the magical technology they use on the Exodar was a surprise to them. When Velen had gathered them together to go to this human's base, he had told them about what he had learned of the human and some of them voiced their doubts about such technology being possible. Velen however smiled and replied that this would change their minds.

And it did, they looked at the ship and the Albatross they had just left, and continued to try hard to fathom the implications before them.. The High Elves looked at the massive ship and were surprised as they could sense no magic at all from the ship before them, they could also see the sheer size of the Dawn, dwarfing many of the ships they had seen in the days of the Second and even the Third War. To know that this was made without any magic, but by machines and by human hands was not easy for them to think of. Their people built their kingdom through the use of magic so seeing such a massive ship, even if it was just half of one and knowing that this was made without the aid of any magic was not easy to deal with.

As for the humans, they marveled at the sight before them, the three females and their only Warlock companion couldn't help but stare at such a massive thing. Though humanity had technology in their hands, it had not gotten as far as it did with the Dwarves and the Gnomes as a majority of humans believed in the power of the Light, the Arcane, and even the Fel magic as well as the power of good old fashioned steel swords and blades, which was why there were not that many marksmen in their ranks as of yet.

Like the Dwarves and the Gnomes, the Humans understood the value of technology in the battle field though they had not taken it to full use. So seeing that this massive warship and the weapons as well as the Armor before them and learning that all of these things were made by Human hands really was a revelation to them. They still were curious as to what the could find about the man and where his people came from and this was going to be a very interesting time.

John then gathered them together and began to explain the rules he had for them, like before when he mentioned these rules to Varian and Velen, he made it clear to the new representatives of the Alliance that he was not going to hesitate to send them back if their offenses reach the point that he now determined them to be nothing more liabilities and dangers to the base and to the people here in general. He flatly made it clear to the human representatives that while he was human like they were, he was not going to side with them because of that if they ever got into a situation with the Horde representatives.

As soon as the rules came to a close, it was there and then that the Horde representatives were detected by Cortana to be approaching the base at a fair distance from the place. She quickly informed John of their arrival and the Spartan left the area and went out of the base to guide them through the still present defensive traps around the base, while mentally making the plan to change the setup later in the night when he had the chance.

As soon as he guided in the Horde representatives back into the base and in front of the Alliance representatives, the atmosphere went from calm to tense faster than a Grunt could turn and run in terror. The two factions' representatives were not the least bit happy to see one another here of all places and that made the Spartan sigh mentally to himself and knew that if had troubles with Horde representatives before, he was going to have even more to deal with now that these people were under his roof.

Cortana's next comment certainly didn't improve his mood all that much either.

"Wow…the tension here is so thick I swear I could see it from here."

"You're not exactly making this easy Cortana."

"I know, but it's the truth either way, come on big guy, time to play the role of peacemaker before this gets turned into something rather ugly this early in the day."

John sighed at that and nodded as he got to work in trying to keep the peace between the two factions in his base. This was going to be a very interesting life from here on out for the next two weeks, that much was certain.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Well, that wraps up the Alliance chapter as it were, and on the next one we got down to the Burning Crusade Arc, the next chapter will also be the last chapter for this story as I am going to place this story aside. After I am done getting the rest I need and dealing with real life priorities, I'll be working on my other stories at this point to iron out any loose ends in said stories.

Anyway, this chapter now deals with the Spartan finishing his meetings with the Alliance and we have some of the representatives of the humans, the Dwarves, the Gnomes, and the Draenei with a scattering of High Elves, and Half Elves. So we leave it at that and that wraps up the whole works, However, as you all have read, the same rules that John gave the Horde representatives apply to the Alliance representatives as well. And now it seems that the Alliance and Horde representatives have just ran into each other and you can bet that if John has problems with the groups already in his base, you can imagine the chaos that is bound to follow the Spartan.

This might almost make him wish he was back fighting both the Flood and the Covenant Loyalists as he already knew just what to do with them the second he sees them.

Anyway, I have been reading the reviews so I have decided to cut down on some of the parts here to make sure I don't end up repeating things that are best left unsaid. So far this story is nearing it's completion for this leg of the race, so to speak, and that means that after the chapter, I am going to put this story on ice.

Send over all the comments and reviews, as well as the constructive critiques since I will be looking them over when the time comes. By the way, be honest about this, I might get annoyed or angry at some of the things that might be placed, but if said content is sent to me in full honesty, then I am not going to ignore it, I like honest comments more than flowery ones anyway.

At this point I am going to be working on the last chapter for this story of mine, so expect this one to be late in arriving as I have to figure out the various racial relationships between the member races of the two factions with not just each other, but also with the opposite faction. Now if anyone wonders why I do this, it's simply because I want to make the interactions more meaty and with better content instead of just the random 'I hate' or "I like' you stuff.

This might take longer, but it makes more sense in the long run as there are various ways that old hatreds can be shown in the story and how John must find a way to keep these situations cool and if possible solve them or make sure that they don't become too overpowering that he would have to send the people back.

As you can see that we have a number of the characters I made in the poll in the story now, along with a few new additions, in this situation however, the female Red Dragon is not there in the story as of yet, but she will soon. How she will appear will be revealed possibly in the next chapter so that might be that last addition to the group that John has to deal with. And with that done, this chapter is over.

And before you ask, those 'Anti-magic' rounds will indeed see action soon in the next chapter in the story arc of the Burning Crusade as John, once he knows what is at stake, will naturally take part in.

…

P.S

Before I get told that I am overdoing it with the whole awe thing towards technology, let me remind you all that we are talking about the fact that while technology is growing in Azeroth and is slowly being taken in, the technology is still comparatively primitive before the UNSC or the Covenant or even our real modern day military forces we have in the real world.

Keep in mind that in the Alliance faction bio, technology is becoming more accepted as the Dwarves, the Gnomes, the Humans, and the Draenei are now using it to improve their performance in the battle field with the still present exception of the Night Elves and the High Elves.

Of course, while the Horde races do understand the power of technology, they don't use it the way the Alliance does, and as such, there are few races in the Horde with the exception of the Goblins and a few others who use technology for battle. Most of the Horde merely use technology for a number of things but not often in combat, and if they needed to, they usually have the Goblins to handle that.

But compared to the Halo Universe…well, you can guess how it matches up with what is there in the world of Warcraft.

I know that I have said something like this before, but I am saying it again to make sure that no one thinks I am trying to make the Spartan too overpowered and the same for his gear. I am just doing what I can to put things in full perspective for both worlds and also make sure that I covered the bases.

…

See you on the next chapter!


	18. Chapter 18

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Halo or WoW...

Chapter 10

Chaos in Silvermoon City…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Dawn's archive room…

John and Cortana were currently looking over the last of the reports that they had been able to gather concerning representatives of the two factions who were now in his base to begin with. The various races were interesting to watch in some ways in how they would act towards one another in a social sense. However, like anything else, John had his hands full when dealing with the two sides when they were going to clash on some matters, these situations partially allowed him to see the history between the two sides in action.

So far the data was now being organized by the Smart A.I and soon the full data was divided into key archive sections. Once that was out of the way, John spoke to Cortana, as he was concerned on how much data she already had on hand, and if it was a danger to her.

"How are you feeling right now Cortana?"

"I'm all right for now, a bit tight on the side but compared the original data I had inside me, this is very light weight stuff."

"That's good to hear, I think it's time we review the exact specifications of both the Alliance and the Horde."

The A.I nodded as she brought up the files on both of the factions once more, only in this case, this had little to do with the history, culture, languages, traditions and more of the said factions. This data archive was focusing more on the details that both the A.I and the Spartan were a lot more familiar with. And that was the military and economic data which they had been able to compile together that concerned the two said factions.

…

John looked at the data and reviewed it piece by piece and to make it harder to crack it was in the Earth language of Italian, a totally alien language in this world but was recognized in the UNSC. The files that he and Cortana had compiled on the Alliance as a whole showed that it had a number of advantages over the Horde, all of these advantages put the Alliance at a rather high advantage in critical areas if they ever went to war once more.

The first was tactical skills and expertise, the Alliance leadership used their numerical superiority to overwhelm their foes with sword, shield as well as lance and gun. They also used their skilled Arcane magic users to support their allies and devastate their foes well. They also had good shock troopers with the Dwarves and the Draenei as well, and both races have proven their mettle when they joined up with the Alliance. Their cavalry forces also played a key role as both Knights and Paladins on horseback have proven themselves many times over and were seen as symbols of the Alliance's might in battle.

They had technology as well, with the advent of gunpowder and explosives and steam, the Alliance had the proverbial one up on the Horde. They already had guns as well as flying machines, armored vehicles, flak cannons, and bombs as well. So far, their vehicles and ships were effective in both breaking morale and destroying both infantry formations and buildings. The Draenei would also be able to add their own technology if they so wished to further fuel the power of the Alliance if there was a need for them to go to war alongside their allies.

The Alliance also had the users of Holy Light, the Priests and Paladins of the Alliance were respected and trusted for their powers of healing, restoration, support, and also being effective counters to the powers of Darkness as well as the power of necromantic magic. This power was the edge they needed in order to counter the Undead as well. The Paladins had suffered heavy losses in the Third War but were in the process of rebuilding and learning from the past. The inclusion of the Draenei would add even more powerful users of the Holy Light to the ranks of the Alliance.

The next advantage was the fact that the members of the Alliance had been unified for far longer than the Horde's own races with the exception of the Night Elves and the Draenei who were recent members of the Alliance. Even before the Third War, the High Elves who remained with the Alliance, the Dwarves, the Gnomes, and the Humans of the Alliance had been allies for a very long time and stand unified in their struggles. However, John was aware that there were often problems with the Alliance under Tyrande and Jaina here in the continent of Kalimdor and those of the continent of Azeroth under Varian Wrynn, namely disagreements with certain actions and policies.

The last advantage that the Alliance had was tradition and land holdings, these said land holdings and bonds of tradition were older than those found in the Horde, namely between the Humans, the High Elves, the Dwarves, and the Gnomes. These races with the exception of the Draenei had ancestral holdings and therefore had no reason to migrate from their locations unless under certain conditions. This was a counter to the Horde who had undergone great migrations in the past, and therefore, the Alliance had the advantage of having a stable infrastructure to work with as well as a higher level of skill when it came to construction of their locations, with their capital cities being more robust and defensible.

…

Of course, that hardly meant that the Alliance was invincible in any fashion, while there were excellent field commanders in their armies, there were lackluster ones as well. These officers who valued prestige, glory and other things would be a weak link in the Alliance war-machine and would be good targets of the Horde to break the advantage of the Alliance. Apart from these mentioned things, there were other weak points of the Alliance as well.

Pride was one such weakness, and it was potentially fatal one if the Horde leadership turned that pride to their advantage in the right time and in the right circumstances. The people of the Alliance were sophisticated and intellectual, pursuing anything that they knew stimulated their intellect such as arcane and engineering. Therefore, they viewed themselves intellectually superior than their foes, this belief was still there even after the bloody wars that they waged with the Horde and recently the Scourge and the Burning Legion. They believe that greater brain power wins over primal force every time, and see that they can still surpass the Horde, even though they had already seen how much the Horde had changed when they fought side by side against the Legion. As such, they underestimate the Horde, including the new Horde under Thrall, and that pride could be easily used in the right way.

John knew that while brain power was valuable, having a strong physical body and spirit were just as valuable to ensure a full and proper victory in battle.

The next weakness was naturally Arcane Magic itself, and this was in the sense that those who used Arcane magic were always targets of opportunity when they were seen in the battle field. The Alliance's reliance on their Arcane spell casters in battle was a weakness since if those said mages were slain in combat, the overall power of the Alliance Army was decreased. The Spartan knew that the Alliance countered that by having Mages in the rear and under protection, but that hardly meant that they were totally safe. The overall physical weaknesses of the arcane magic users were also something that could be easily exploited as they had no way to fight back if they were ever separated from their escorts and had little time to use magic.

Next was overall physical strength, the Dwarves, the High Elves, the Gnomes, and the Humans couldn't match up physically to the raw power of the Orcs and the Tauren, the latter being a lot stronger than the Orcs, there were also reports of the Ogres being part of the Horde from time to time, adding extra muscle to the forces that were already present in the Horde. The Horde's forces naturally outmatched the Alliance in this category, though the Alliance now had the Draenei to even things up.

And the last was it's own territory, though Varian made it clear that if any Horde force made any aggressive moves on any Alliance held territory in Kalimdor and a revanchist movement was already in full swing to the Alliance. The territory problem would be turned into an advantage if done right, however, it still stood that Alliance holdings in Kalimdor were weak at best and there were few locations that were well controlled by the Alliance, and such weak spots could be easily exploited by a intelligent and determined foe.

Once he was done looking the data of the Alliance over, John turned his attention to the Horde as well…

The Horde itself had a very interesting history, in the past two Wars, they had been under the control of the Burning Legion and had fought with the Kingdom of Azeroth and burned it to the ground, forcing the humans of Stormwind to flee to Lordaeron and there, found the Alliance with the other Human nations of the land, the High Elves, the Gnomes, and the Dwarves. The Horde aligned with the Jungle Trolls of the old Troll Empire and with the Goblins along with their Ogre enforcers. This Horde, which was once led by the Warchief Blackhand was now led by Orgrim Doomhammer, who had killed Blackhand as he was a puppet of the Shadow Council and nearly wiped the said Council out as well. They also had the Demon Soul to enslave the Red Dragon Flight through the Queen Alextrasza

The Horde then launched an attack on Lordaeron and while the Alliance was able to hold the lines in several key battles. They fared very poorly at first, namely due to the other nations and allies in the Alliance not entirely being dedicated to the cause of the Alliance. The Horde's dual offensives that started in a land assault on the Wildhammer holdings of Khaz Modan and a naval assault on the islands of Zul'dare, Tol Barad, and Crestfall to establish naval bases and rally points caught the Alliance with their proverbial pants down.

The combined might of the Horde was enough for force a vast majority of the Dwarves and Gnomes to retreat to their city of Ironforge and cut them off from the conflict with the exception of those who were part of the Alliance Armies on the field. They also established fortresses for their assaults in key locations in the land with Grim Batol serving as the breeding ground for their captive Dragon forces. They also used their speed and tactical skill to cut a path through the lands of the High Elves, killing, burning, and desecrating everything in their path until Alliance forces arrived.

This attack on the Elves however garnered their full support to the Alliance and secured a much stronger force to fight back with, despite the initial successes of the Horde. The counter offensive led by Lothar helped push the Horde back despite the treason of the nation of Alterac, their plots discovered by Uther, the first of the Paladins and that led to the destruction of the nation and it's lord Perenolde. This however allowed the Horde to siege the capital of Lordaeron. The Horde was betrayed by Gul'dan for his mad quest for power as well by his servant Cho'gall and that split the Horde in half. The Horde under Doomhammer had to break their siege and slaughter traitors for their dishonor. This action however allowed the Alliance to regain their breath and counter attack the Horde bases and troops who were in shambles due to the mess.

The Alliance's counter attacks pushed the Horde completely out of Lordaeron and took back the lands of Azeroth. Anduin however died into the war in battle with Doomhammer, and was succeeded by his second in command Turalyon . The Alliance then pushed the Horde all the way back to the Dark Portal and eventually, the Horde was defeated, with numerous Orcs taken prisoner as well as many of their leaders rounded up, Orgrim among them. Of course some clans escaped and were left to hide from the Alliance.

The new Horde that was commanded by their new Warchief was far different from the old Horde and due to their new allies, they were a lot stronger than before though they were recovering from the wars that they had taken part in. The Horde did have a number of advantages in battle.

The first was the fact that they had a centralized leadership, with clear leaders of the various factions who made up the Horde, and Thrall was recognized as the overall leader of the Horde. This allowed the Horde to have a better organizational structure than the Alliance which was critical in warfare. Of course this was countered by the fact that the races of the Horde have been allied with those who have their own interests than that of the Horde as a whole, namely the Blood Elves and the Forsaken.

This was countered, in John's military mind, by the fact that Thrall was raised by humans, and as such, grew up with a human education in tactics, strategy, and warfare. This gave the Warchief a unique gift, and that was the understanding of the tactics and strategy used by the humans in battle and how to best counter them. John knew that Thrall knew his enemy in a more personal setting and that gave him the advantage in countering Alliance maneuvers than even the veteran leaders of the Horde in the first two wars. Thrall knew himself and knew his enemy, making him the best symbol of Sun Tzu's teaching of knowing one's self and one's enemy.

The next advantage of the Horde was their physical strength and builds, John already saw firsthand that the Orcs were physically stronger than the Humans and having the Tauren as muscle certainly helped. While the Alliance were no slouches in combat, when stripped of weapons and armor, as well as magical aid and technology, the Alliance forces were severely handicapped in the physical muscle department. The Draenei might add extra muscle in that area of weakness, but the Horde still had that advantage over the Alliance.

…

However, the Horde did have weak points, the first and foremost was their savage nature and actions, even after the Orcs were freed from the demonic blood curse that turned them into blood thirsty tools for the Legion, they still went into blood rages. While that made them very powerful and a danger in close combat, they had to sacrifice their tactical skills and higher thinking abilities to go into those rages. This was the same as the Brutes themselves who would go into random rages in battle or when they were too badly wounded or were the last in their pack.

While that made them dangerous indeed as they could even kill Hunters in battle, it made them fairly easy to predict and with enough understanding and taking every opportunity open, could be easier to kill. The other races of the Horde were also prone to giving into their rage, even the Blood Elves were subject to them same thing due to their history with the Alliance and their 'rebirth' from what they once were to what they are now. Guile and subtlety were unknown to the majority of the Horde and most prefer to let their fists do the talking, though there were exceptions to the rule, Ogres were the worst as the idea of being subtle was unknown to them and more than one plan of the Horde went down…the crapper … as he heard one Marine had put it once, when the Ogres just charged in without caring for the plan at all.

The only Horde race that were not gripped in such rages were the Tauren due to their peaceful nature and only unleashed their fury if they were truly in danger or enraged.

…

The second weakness was their low numbers, the Horde, despite their innate physical strength and abilities no longer possessed the numbers of warriors and specialists they once enjoyed in their past Wars. Having great strength was good, but having great numbers and great strength was even better. John could identify with this weakness of the Horde easily due to his own experiences. Even after the many victories he and his fellow Spartans had, they didn't have the numbers among them in order to have a more powerful effect during the Wars. Each member race of the Horde had different events that made them reach this point of having low populations.

The Orcs had suffered a large number of losses in two of the three Wars they took, most were lost not just in battle with the Alliance, but in conflicts between Clan Chieftains who cared more for their standing than their people, in the same fashion that claimed Eitrigg' sons. After the Second War, they suffered even more when in the internment camps and when they were used as slaves and targets of frustration by the Alliance. Even after they were freed and eventually settled in Kalimdor, their numbers were further thinned by the battles with the Centaur, the future residents of Theramore Isle, the battles with the Night Elves, the battle with the corrupted Warsong Clan, and eventually, suffered their most devastating losses in the last battle alongside the Alliance and the Night Elves at Mount Hyjal against the Legion. As such, the Orcs were too badly decimated and both he and Cortana noted that it would take at least four to six generations at best for them to recover the numbers they once enjoyed before.

The Tauren were another case of depleted numbers. Many of them had been killed by Centaur raids on their tribes, and also due to disease and starvation due to the disgusting habits of the Centaur and their over hunting of the native game in the plains. Plant food was also rotten and despoiled by the marauding Centaur, adding to the starvation and sickness that plagued them already, and of course, the war with the Burning Legion thinned their forces even more. Their alliance with the Orcs and their spiritual strength allowed them to survive, but the damage had been done already. Even with the numbers of all the tribes that now were there, they were still not in the numbers needed to be a cohesive military force.

The Forsaken were also in dire straits, as Undead, they could not reproduce and as such, had to rely on resurrecting their forces to keep their population steady. And while that would give them the advantage of having powerful fighters in both the art of magic, and the sword, losses that could not be resurrected were lost to them forever. This coupled with the fact that they were a minority of Undead beings who were able to regain their free will from the Lich King, meant that they were very much limited in numbers to begin with as the majority of the Scourge was still under the command of the Lich King, this made losing any member of their forces and having no means the bring them back, a serious blow to their overall military, economic, and civilian strength.

The Darkspear Trolls were also limited in numbers, with many of their kindred taken by the mad Witch Doctor Zalazane, and also the losses they had suffered in the wars with the Sea Witch, the battles with the Alliance, the Night Elves, and then fighting the Burning Legion. This meant that their populations were at an all time low and needed many generations in order to ensure that their people would not die out completely.

The Blood Elves were also in the same boat, their numbers had already taken a sharp decline ever since the Second War when they were attacked by the Horde and their moral enemies the Trolls. They suffered even more with the invasion of the Scourge and the siege of their lands, many of their people were slain and reanimated into the Undead forces and others were consumed to feed the ravenous hunger of the advancing Undead. The fall of their capital city and the deaths of so many of their leaders, both civilian and military, and multitudes of their people was made even worse with the corruption of the Sunwell. The decision to destroy it to prevent their corruption and madness also proved to be a double edged sword as the magical addiction that was genetically inherent in the soon to become Blood Elves claimed even more lives, namely the very young, the elderly, the sick and injured. This further weakened the Blood Elves and thus, their own populations were in desperate need of recovery and growth in order to be fully stable.

All of these problems in terms of numbers for each of the Horde races convinced John and Cortana that while they could mount up armies to fight, the Horde desperately lacked the personnel to mount a successful military campaign that could take months or even years to complete and also replace any losses that could not be brought back.

Entering into battle with such limitations on personnel was an open invitation to disaster, and he hoped that any war-hawk in the Horde, with one hot headed Orc coming easily into mind, would at least have the common sense to measure the losses that the Horde would suffer if they were ever dragged into a costly campaign with nothing to gain from it but more death and lives lost.

…

Another key weakness was technology itself, while they were powerful; the technology level of the Horde was fairly weak. They did grasp the rudimentary basics of technology, and the sciences behind it. And they did possess advanced metallurgical technology and other forms of technology. But as a whole, the Horde had a distain for technology, considering it more of a oddity and a curiosity, but not a tool that they would willingly use full time.

The majority of the Tauren and the Blood Elves naturally saw technology as an inherently destructive tool which they want no part of, any technology they had was geared towards everyday survival and problem solving duties, not warfare, even though there were Tauren who used Guns, they were a minority as many Tauren prefer to hunt the old fashioned way. The Orcs also preferred to fight with close combat weaponry as was their tradition and way of fighting, but this was a mistake when facing long range experts armed with rifles and explosives.

John could easily see Alliance marksmen aiming at Horde officers and leaders, taking them out and cutting the Horde's forces by the head. Alliance Flying machines and Steam tanks could easily raise hell in the front lines and break through the Horde's defensive lines with their low numbers while inflicting heavy losses on the Horde.

The Horde relied on the Goblins for technological support and maintenance, though having seen the technology of the Goblins firsthand; he doubted that the Horde trusted Goblin technology that much as well. This made the situation for the Horde rather difficult as apart from the Goblins, the only faction that had technological aptitude were the Forsaken with a fusion of necromantic technology and human technology. This technological gap was a weakness that had to be overcome by the Horde if they wished to strengthen their military and industrial might.

And of course, there was the racial tension among the Horde races. The Orcs, Tauren and the trolls got along well enough despite the presence of leaders who might be more aggressive. But the three of them were not very trusting of the other members of their faction, namely the Blood Elves and the Forsaken and for various reasons, and all of the said reasons, made very good sense in the Spartan's mind. And both the Forsaken and the Blood Elves were not very trusting of their allies as well, making the alliance with the Horde only out of convenience.

…

As soon as the two of them were done with their work, Cortana directed her attention to her long time guardian and spoke in a teasing manner.

"Now that we're gone with this part of the job at hand, I think it's time we go check and see just how our guests are doing."

John rolled his eyes at that as he took his MJOLNIR Mark VI helmet and moved out to see just what was happening in the base area that he was taking good care of. He had to deal with a number of issues, one such issue was naturally how to keep the two factions going at each other's throats. The two sides usually were talking and arguing about many things, the only good news that he got out of this whole situation was the fact that at for now, the results of the said arguments didn't result in blood being spilled and the various factions were keeping things civil, though he had a feeling that there was still going to be some tension there.

Another problem was naturally the warning that was given to him by both Gelbin and Magni concerning the representatives they had sent from their respective races, sure enough, the Dwarves and the Gnomes were asking him a horde of questions on his technology. He had a hard time explaining some of the basics as their questions was seemingly never ending. They had asked him about the Dawn and he gave the details though he avoided the intricate details as he had never shared the said details with anyone else.

They had also asked him questions about the various vehicles in the Dawn that they were able to see, and there was one point that the Dwarven engineer was literally showing love harts the very second she spotted one of the Scorpion Tanks, and said hearts in eyes grew even more when she gazed at the Grizzly Tank.

The female dwarf, named Krona Thunderhammer had asked the Spartan permission to drive the Grizzly and soon enough, her Gnomish counterpart, named Dastel Cogmaker also asked for a try in driving the vehicle in question.

He shot down that idea when he flatly replied.

"You two are not driving any of the tanks, not if I have anything to say about it."

He naturally couldn't blame them for asking though; the Steam Tanks that their people made for the Alliance were impressive on their own, considering what ran them and how they were made. Considering the world he was in and the technology level, what they made was leap in technology in many ways.

But seeing the UNSC tanks and getting some idea of how deadly they were and their abilities and really made the two engineers very eager to study it in more detail. John did provide them with some of the vehicles' details but not the more important ones, and he also made sure that he kept the said tanks on lock down to make sure that the two of them didn't get any ideas on trying to take them out for a test spin. He shuddered mentally at the thought of those two trying to drive either tanks.

The tanks were not the only ones the Dwarves, the Gnomes and yes, even the humans were eyeing though. They took an interest in every vehicle that the Dawn had, even the Warlock, who's name was Matthias Kellmore took an interest as well and he had to explain some of the things that were present there in order to have some peace and quiet every now and then.

He made his way to the galley and was soon able to get some food out as well as cup of coffee to have for the day ahead of him. As he sat down and took off his helmet, placing next to him to eat, he was surprised to hear squeals of laughter and wondered just what was going on. He got his answer as Reisha ran into the galley, being chased by another Night Elf child who was also female. The two children were not usually allowed in the Dawn since there were some parts of the ship which were off limits to those who by law were not allowed in military warships unless in unique circumstances.

The children stopped and they looked at the Spartan in surprise, the other child was very much worried but Reisha however was not as the young Night Elf girl ran to her savior and smiled happily in greeting as any child would after seeing a good friend. As soon as she got there, she spoke in a very happy tone towards him.

"Good morning!"

John couldn't help but give the young child a smile as well, truth be told, he had grown slightly attached to the young Night Elf girl and greeted her.

"Good morning to you Reisha? Have taken your breakfast today?"

"Yes! Are you having your own breakfast too?"

John nodded and that was when Reisha spotted her friend who was still a distance away from the Spartan. The young child frowned a bit and walked over to her friend and spoke.

"Naisha, don't be so shy, the Spartan's a nice person, you don't have to be frightened of him."

John had to admit that was rather new to him, most children he met on rare occasions would usually gawk at him and then run away. Others were even brave enough to ask him if he was actually real, most of the time, he ignored it as he had duties that cut into socializing time. But for today, there was not much to do, and since he was trying to establish good relations with the other races who called this world home, there was nothing wrong with socializing, at least for today anyway. And at least it was with children who didn't ask way too many sensitive questions, at least he hoped not.

As the two approached, Reisha introduced her friend once more to the Spartan and he decided to shake Naisha's hand, making sure to not to grip too tightly. He could easily see the expressions on the young girl's face, no doubt said expressions were due to the size of his hand on hers. After that was over, he allowed to sit down with him while he enjoyed his meal of eggs sunny side up, bacon, mashed potatoes and peas. Once he was done with his meal as well as the coffee, he decided to spend time with the two girls and it seemed that the decision was the right one as both Night Elf girls were getting used to him being around.

They asked him about his home and he gave the simple details while keeping more vital ones out of the discussion, though he made sure to mention that he had not been there in a while and only left it recently. It was not a complete lie, but the idea of telling two impressionable young girls that he had taken part in a war that saw his adopted home world of Reach reduced into a burning glass ball with millions of people dead was not the least bit good in his mind. Afterwards, they asked him several other questions and they even asked to hold his helmet. He was not all that sure that it was a good idea, but he didn't stop them at all since there was no reason for him to do so in the first place. They looked at the helmet as well as the armor with fascination and Reisha asked him a simple question, at least to her mind.

"How old are you?"

John decided to loosen himself a bit and answer her.

"I'm forty-six by most human ages."

The young Night Elf looked his face intently and replied.

"You don't look that old."

"I suppose, let's just say I look good for someone my age, anyway, I think I have something you both might like."

"Oh?"

The Spartan got to his feet and headed off to the kitchen and placed out an order and soon came back with two bars wrapped in foil. Naisha then asked the Spartan what were those things.

"What are those?"

"Chocolate."

Kaelyn watched the scene as John handed Reisha and her friend the two chocolate bars and the young female Night Elf child and her friend were eating away happily at the gifts. The Sentinel couldn't help but find the whole scene rather endearing as it was obvious that both Reisha and her friend Naisha were getting along with the Spartan. It was kind of surprising that before her was a man who could really be very dangerous, and he was very dangerous when in battle, yet seemed to be rather…comfortable around children.

She then decided to go in and make her presence known to the Spartan as she walked over to them, John spotted her and gave her a nod of recognition and she smiled in greeting and directed her attention to the two young children who were still busy munching away at the gifts given to them by the Spartan. She then spoke to the children so she could have some privacy with the Spartan.

"Children, do you mind if I speak to the Spartan in private?"

Naisha looked up and was about to speak but Reisha smiled and spoke back.

"Of course!"

With that, Reisha and her friend took their leave and Kaelyn smiled at the happy children, it did her heart good to see smiles on their innocent faces and it was something that she missed seeing for a very long time. It was then that she noted that John was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, she wondered why he was looking at her like that until he revealed just why he was looking at her like that.

"You enjoyed seeing them smile."

Kaelyn nodded.

"Yes, anyway, I just wanted to say hello to you, I have to ask permission to leave the Dawn for a while."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I got word from a patrol that came here last night when I was on watch, I used the data you gave me to guide them into the base. They told me that the Sentinels are rebuilding but they still happen to be rather shorthanded as it is. They need me to help prepare for leading my old team and if possible, help give some refresher training for some new recruits in the Sentinels."

John was all right with that, he would have to reassign someone to take Kaelyn's duties, but that was something he could easily do at a later date.

"It's all right with me, you're people need you so I don't have any problem with that. How long do you plan to be there in Darnassus by the way?"

"At least three or four days at best."

"Good, I wish you best, and hope you make it back here soon, I need your help to keep this place running after all."

The Sentinel smiled and thanked the Spartan as she decided to pack up some supplies and more for the trip back to Darnassus for reassignment. As he was about to shake her hand and wish her the best of luck, the Night Elf surprised him by actually hugging him, allowing him to smell the odd but not bad scent of her hair as she hugged him as her hair was close to his nose. It was not the only surprise as the Night Elf gently kissed him on the cheek. It was not a serious kiss, just a brush of her lips on his cheek, but for reasons he couldn't understand, that action, sent shivers down his spine.

It took most of his will not to react badly as he bade Kaelyn goodbye and as soon as the Night Elf left the galley, he touched his face and tried to relax himself and get back to being objective. He picked up his tray and cup, placed them to the automated conveyer belt back into the kitchen for cleaning and took his helmet and placed it back on his head. The very second he did that, he was greeted with the same feeling of ice water going down his spine and soon was greeted by the voice of his long time friend and ally, and he immediately could tell from her tone of voice that she was rather amused and his thoughts on the matter were well confirmed as she spoke to him a very amused tone.

"Nice way of handling the kids, you're doing very good right now big guy."

"At least you approve."

"And by the way, nice move with Kaelyn, you're getting into the spirit of things now I see."

"You want to explain that to me?"

Cortana chuckled at that and replied.

"Maybe some other time, come on, let's go see what's going on with the rest of the people here in the base."

John sighed, knowing that he was going to have to deal with Cortana teasing him for the rest of the day. But at least he knew that Cortana's teasing was good natured and not meant to test his patience and waste his time. As he got moving to the Armory, he decided to take a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle and a M6G Magnum. He then got the ammunition needed for the weapons as well as taking a pair of Combat Knives to place on his MJOLNIR mark VI. With everything placed in, the Spartan decided to move out and see just how the rest of the residents were doing.

…

Outside of the Dawn…

John moved about to see just how things were for the residents, he dropped by the Peons and they were already hard at work with the crops and feeding of the animals. One of their representatives showed the Spartan what they had collected so far, and seeing there was plenty to have, he replied that he was pleased. This seemed to be somewhat foreign to the Peons though they were smiling somewhat at the praise, even more so since the praise in question came from a human.

He then made his way to the docks just as Samson was looking over the latest catch of the day by those of his fellow humans who had gone fishing with the boat, it was a good thing to see that the men were doing their part in feeding the people here and Samson was more than happy to be having a chance to help the man who had saved his life and that of his fellow former slaves to the Venture Company. He gave the news to the Spartan and John was happy for that and he made it clear to them all.

With that done, he made his way to the High Elf section to see how they were doing in this day. As soon as he arrived he spotted them working on some of the supplies that were magical in nature, namely potions and salves for various uses as well as making some new weapons and armor for the people there. He talked with them and was happy that for this day, they were not causing any trouble with the others, namely those who were from the Horde faction. However, both he and Cortana could tell that they were still not very happy with the idea of being near them for this day.

He then made his way to the area where the supplies were being held and there he was able to meet the engineers from Ironforge and they were happy to see that he had decided to pay them a visit, the two had taken their residence in the armory and the blacksmith to make the weapons of tools in the place and it seemed that the action was a good one, they were still interested in getting a chance to use the weapons he had as well as take them for a test spin. He naturally was not going to let that happen just yet. As he left, he decided to drop by the training area to get some skills sharpened up.

As he arrived in the training area, Daine arrived carrying his Long Rifle and a tankard of ale in hand as well. The male Dwarf grinned warmly at the Spartan and spoke to him.

"Hey lad, good to see you coming out of that flying ship you call home, care for a little spot of shooting?"

John thought it over and seeing that he had little to do for the moment, decided to indulge the Dwarf marksman.

"Why not?"

Daine grinned widely at that.

"Great! Let me finish me drink and we can get down to business!"

The dwarf was true to his word and down the drink easily enough and took his rifle in hand and took a good look at the target and then put his trigger finger in his mouth for a second and placed it around. Most people would have been disgusted with that action, but the Spartan recognized it easily. That was the old way on how to tell the wind direction as well as the speed, this told him that the man was a good marksman, and considering the skills he had seen before, fitting.

Daine grinned and spoke.

"Ah…the air's good for shooting today lad, so, you mind if I go first?"

"Sure."

Daine grinned and began to fire a few rounds off and then the Spartan took his turn as he took out his BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle from his back and took a few shots as well, with the Dwarf looking on in approval as he observed the weapon in action. Once the Spartan was done, the Dwarf noted that the Spartan removed some sort of rectangular object from the back of the weapon and replaced it with a new one, he kept that in mind and as soon as the giant of a human was done, he spoke.

"You've got great shooting skills there lad, you mind if I test this thing, or does it have the kick of that last weapon I used?"

"No, go ahead."

John handed Daine the Battle Rifle and he watched as the Dwarf began to fire the weapon, and he could tell that the less powerful recoil of the weapon was a pleasant surprise for the Dwarf as he continued to shoot away with the rifle. Once he was done and satisfied with the whole shooting, he looked at the rifle with a look that showed his amazement towards the weapon.

"This thing's a lot more comfortable than that mortar in rifle form you carried the last time, it's lighter too."

"The Battle Rifle's a versatile weapon and can be effective in most ranges but it's not perfect in long range and short range. Still, it's a valued part of the arsenal and is every effective in the hands of a skilled and experienced soldier."

"That much I can see, but I still am amazed that you don't load these beauties the way we do. How do you manage that? Or does it have something to do with that thing you placed into it?"

John gave a brief explanation of the basic mechanics of ammunition magazines and when he was done, Daine was stunned and impressed at that.

"You mean to tell me you can actually fire these weapons multiple times and those things carry MORE than one bullet?"

"More or less, most of my people's weapons are automatic, semi-automatic, and single shot. With automatic mode weapons, you can unleash a storm of bullets, but that's not recommended since you use of up too much ammunition, accuracy suffers, and you put too much stress on the weapon. Those kinds of weapons however are effective in the right situation and hands. Semi fires only a certain amount of bullets, conserves ammunition but you have to lead the bullets a good bit for more accuracy. And single shot speaks for itself already, we use magazines in more of our weapons so we can carry more rounds than a regular person armed with the kind of guns that are in the same category as yours."

Daine thought over the implications and replied.

"Nice…you have some very impressive gear lad, at any rate, you care to shoot with me a bit more?"

John nodded and after trading a few more rounds with the Dwarf marksman, he made his way to the rest of the base to oversee everything else that was happening in his side of the deck as it were. He made it to the Horde section and decided to see how the others were handling their stay in his base so far. As soon as he got there, he was greeted by Harg who seemed to be in a rather relaxed mood, not usually seen among Orcs as he spoke.

"Greetings Spartan, you're just in time."

"Time for what?"

"A sparring match of course, if you don't mind, I'd like to test my skills against yours."

John sighed a bit and followed the Kor'kron guard to the Orc section where he and the others were. As soon as he got there, Harg presented the Spartan a dull but well made sword with a leather grip and he wielded the same thing, around them were the other Orcs, all of them eager to see how this encounter will turn out as Harg also carried the same weapon as John did as well. John decided to at least oblige Harg and placed down both his Battle Rifle and Magnum, but not before placing them in safety mode.

The two squared off and they were soon fighting with one another, John decided to control his power and speed so as not to accidentally kill Harg in combat. After all, Harg was a fairly easy going Orc and seemed to be a lot more capable in controlling his temper. Their swords were making a lot of sounds as they slashed, and stabbed at one another, they made even more sounds as they blocked, and parried each other's attacks well enough. All the while, the other Orcs were observing the whole thing and they were soon joined by their Troll and Tauren counterparts. As they looked at Harg and John trade blows, the others were able to relax for the moment to look at how they would fight.

After half an hour of mock fighting, the two of them stopped and Harg was feeling rather good to have tested himself against the Spartan for today. The arrival of the other Horde representatives, excluding the representatives of the Forsaken and the Blood Elves had allowed John to speak to them all and see that they were in a much calmer state of mind that before and thankfully, most of them were heeding his rules since there had not been any incidents of violence between them and the Alliance representatives. For that both he and Cortana were thankful as they were not in the mood to deal with such things once again.

John then decided to check on the Alliance representatives after talking with the Horde members and knew that it was going to be a long discussion for them as well. As soon as he got there, he traveled to the human section to see that Dana, Talia, Lyssa, and Matthias had moved in with Samson's people and that made more sense to him as they were already set up so no need to build too many buildings in one place. So far it seemed that they were doing all right though Dana had to admit that working near where Horde members were was not easy with her and the same could be said for both Lyssa and Talia, no doubt due to past experience and racial tension.

Thankfully, the four of them were busy helping the people in the base so they didn't get into any trouble with the Horde representatives, Talia busied herself with tending to the injured and sick as well as helping educate those in the Holy Light who asked for it, Dana busied herself with keeping the peace on patrol with the others who were on patrol and Lyssa was busy with both those duties as well as doing research. John then moved on to see the High Elves and they were also staying with their kindred and helping along as well, they were taking their time in helping in the defense of the base while also doing what they could to gather all the information that they would need to send to their leaders back in Dalaran shortly should they decide to go there.

In fact, the two male mages were planning to report in the next day to Rhonin and Vereesa and they were going make sure that they were going to show the two leaders of their nation what they had witnessed by far when they were in his base. This meant that their female companions were going to be handling the matters that they needed to handle here in the base itself. He noted that the other High Elves seemed to be very happy to have their kindred from Dalaran there and thankfully this group of High Elves had not gotten into a serious altercation with the Orcs and the Blood Elves as well as the two Forsaken who were also residing in the base itself along with their fellow members of the Horde faction.

Afterwards he took the time to speak to the Draenei faction who were there, the Paladins, Warriors, and the lone Shaman were currently getting ready to go on patrol around the base yet all of them were in the same place altogether, so he had time to talk with all of them at once and see how they were handling the situation before them, namely in being close to the members of the Horde. They naturally were not too happy being near the Orcs and they told him why as well.

John and Cortana had read about how the Orcs after being corrupted were used to attack the Draenei who lived among them in their old land as a way to test them and also eliminate an old threat to the Burning Legion. But hearing it from the other side of the fence was enough to explain why they had such animosity towards the Orcs. Thankfully the Draenei who were here with him in his base were kind enough not to let the past cloud their judgment or make them do irrational things that could get them into trouble.

The same thing happened as well when he and Cortana traveled to the other member races of the Alliance, the Dwarves had set up their own residence near the Dawn, no doubt to try and study in any possible fashion the Frigate and the same could be said for the Gnomes who had also taken to living close to the ship as well. The Gnomes naturally were not hostile to the Orcs but the Dwarves were another matter entirely as they were not very happy with working with the Horde, which was something that John and Cortana expected, but at least they had not tried to kill each other just yet.

By the end of the day, John was thankful that while there were heated arguments from time to time between the two factions and inter-faction disagreements, there had been no fists launched or weapons drawn. After all his time here in this world, the Spartan developed the habit of counting the small blessings that came to him. He always had a feeling that with all the past histories and hatreds that connected the races of the Alliance and the Horde, there was always a chance that he was sitting on a container filled to the brim with C-12 Shaped Charges, or even a NOVA Bomb with a timer counting down.

He had been able to keep things ironed out, but he doubted that he would see the last of such things that were still simmering underneath the surface. If there was something that he learned in his years as a soldier and student in the arts of war, it was this old saying that remained true in time.

'Anything, everything, and something can and will go wrong at some point in time.'

…

After four days, Kaelyn had returned to the Dawn and brought some news from Darnassus for the Spartan to listen to. Apparently the tension between Tyrande and Fandral was growing a bit more though it seemed that Tyrande was still a number of steps ahead of the Arch Druid and managed to keep her secrets from the man. John hoped that this power struggle between the two leaders of the Night Elves was not going to result in a Night Elf civil war, which was the last thing they needed to happen in their lands.

John pretty much had a routine down pat, he would usually wake up early, have the usual training exercises to warm himself up early in the morning and make sure that any stiffness in his body was gone, he then would routinely train in the usual combat exercises taught to him as a child, and make routine repairs and maintenance checks on his MJOLNIR Mark VI as well as his weapons. He had also decided to have a section of the base turned into a massive training course that mirrored the same training course that he had been training in back at Reach, and another training course that mirrored the same training course that he and the others took part in when they were in team training.

He recalled fondly that this course was where he met Kelly and Samuel, his closest friends in the Spartans, and it actually make him chuckle a bit at how badly they lost the first time they did it, he had gone ahead and rang the bell before them, they had lost according to Chief Mendez and had no dinner. That also resulted in Samuel nearly pushing him off the second time they did the training, but they became friends along with Kelly as well.

He had also taken to showing a bit more of UNSC Culture to his guests to show them some of the things that came from where he had come from. He decided to select some materials that would not be too surprising to his guests, and still appealing to their senses. Thankfully the Dawn's database had some useful data caches that he could use, namely in the media department.

He set it up and actually managed to start playing some of the music that was stored in the data caches, the music ranged from modern, to classical and a few other genres that were known to exist in the UNSC. The first song he played for the people was a classical favorite of Dr Halsey, the music from the French composer Debussy. The music was very interesting to the ears of the Alliance members, namely the humans and the High Elves, even the Night Elves and the Blood Elves found the music to be rather interesting . The next set of music he played as a somewhat softer version of the music known as Flip Music, this was the favorite music of an old friend of his, Avery J. Johnson loved this type of music, though he hardly shared his friend's taste in the music. The song had a rather unique name and it was the same as his armor, the song was MJOLNIR.

The music was treated with curiosity by the others in the Alliance, but it was actually attractive to the Dwarves, the Orcs, the Trolls, and even the Tauren found the music oddly interesting. John explained the title of the song and naturally Erin, Sandra, and Kaelyn asked why the song title was the same as his Armor. He told them the history of the word MJOLNIR, namely in the mythical origin of the word.

The Dwarves found the story of the word MJOLNIR to be very interesting and so did the others and when he explained the story of MJOLNIR only being carried by the strongest, which was Thor, and pointed out that the Armor he and his fellow Spartans wore was too powerful for any regular person to wear, and it was only due to their augmentations that they could use it.

Naturally they asked what happened to regular humans who tried to wear the Armor, and despite his personal reservations, he told them. Naturally he made sure that there were no children in earshot as the members of the two factions were feeling a bit queasy as he spared no expense in saying it thick and strong. Hopefully this would be enough to convince anyone with ideas of trying to study his Armor to think twice on trying to take it from him without his notice.

He wasn't going to hold his breath though…

He also played a few movies as well, giving a brief explanation of the films in question and how they worked. The films were mostly stories about Earth's past as well as stories that were used for simple entertainment purposes. One such film he found was based on some old novels which some of the members of the Alliance amusing and others were a bit new to the Horde and that was to be expected in his mind since he and Cortana could guess that movies was nigh unheard of here in this world that they had landed in.

…

Of course not everything about UNSC culture was something he was willing to divulge, however in his case, he didn't need to. He had been called in by Cortana had called him to go to one of the Dawn's living sections as she had just told him that Dana and her companions had found something that they should not have found, he was confused by that and hoped that it was not bad. As soon as he got into the room, he was surprised to see the women were looking at some sort of book and that surprised him a good deal, what was that doing here in the dawn of all things.

He spoke out to the three and that was enough to get their attention.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

Dana held the item in front of the Spartan with a deep red blush on her face which was the same for Talia and Lyssa, as the female Paladin spoke.

"What in the name of the Holy Light is this?"

John looked calmly at the item and seemed not to be affected by this, but in reality, he was not very pleased and mentally face palmed himself while Cortana couldn't help but be utterly amused by this sudden turn of events as she also looked at the item in question.

Apparently, during the many conflicts the Dawn had been in before as well as when the ship became part of the hasty response attack force to the Ark to stop the Prophet of Truth and the Loyalists, someone had forgotten to do a routine inspection of the lockers of the Frigate's personnel. It was an accepted fact that UNSC Personnel usually had some form of contraband on them, and depending on circumstance and the contraband in question, the punishment was variable. And this item in question was contraband, but hardly harmful, at least to the adults and the late teens.

He could understand the reactions of the women from the Alliance, after all, it was not every day that they saw fellow women in swimwear of all things, and they were in positions that would have REALLY grabbed a man's attention.

Later, he managed to explain to the human women what they found, he told them that it was a magazine that was read by men and was considered as a basic form of entertainment for the men who were in the UNSC military when they were of duty and they were not with women who they were in a relationship with.

It was not easy explaining to them what they were reading, but at least he managed to keep them from going off the wall on this. The magazine was not alone as it turns out that the offending UNSC Marine or Sailor had a stash of the stuff hidden in the locker and John had no idea what to do with the stuff. He knew that if anyone else got their hands on it, this was really going to cause trouble in the Dawn. This was one side of human culture from the UNSC that he was not very keen on revealing just yet.

…

That however was not the only time as it seemed that there was more than one member of the Dawn's crew that had a hidden stash of these said magazines and this time, it was found by the Night Elves and that actually made them raise their eyebrows, the situation started out innocently enough with Kaelyn and the others taking the time to rest in the dawn, and naturally Sandra decided to look into some of the lockers and in that said innocent search, they found the items in question.

Cortana was quick to alert him to that situation and the Spartan was quick to go to the area and see just what was going to happen. The very second he entered the room where the Night Elves were in at the time, he was able to see that they were very much surprised by this and when they saw him, he could see that they were very much curious as to what was going on, though he could swear later that he saw a smirk on the face of Sandra while Kaelyn was rather surprised by this, the male Night Elves including Jarrod had raised eyebrows at this and the other Night Elves were looking on in surprise at what was it that they found.

John sighed and explained to them what they found and when he was done, the Night Elves were somewhat perplexed by this though it seemed that the men didn't mind all that much as far as he could see, though the women were still very much confused and somewhat amused by the whole thing before them all.

John was soon greeted by Kaelyn later when he was eating in the Dawn's galley to find out more of what it was, and there, he decided to point out that if she removed the armor plating, as well as her greaves, pauldrons, thigh and arm guards, her outfit would very much be the same as that of the human women she had seen in the magazines. That comment made her look at him in surprise though he could have sworn that there was a slight gleam in her eye.

After a few days, Kaelyn and the other Night Elves were requested to help deal with some matters back in Darnassus as Tyrande had sent a massage concerning some matters that she needed to had dealt with beforehand. This left him with more time in his hands to do some routine work and decided to go to Azeroth for a quick trip to get some more materials, namely more mithril for more of his and Cortana's projects. He had left Dana in charge of the place while he was away as he had developed enough trust towards the Human Paladin to hold the base while he was away.

As he flew over the place, he decided to take only the Pelican while locking down the other vehicles. One of the Gnomish rogues, by the name Nichols Copper-wheel tried to sneak into the Dawn using the air duct vents that were about his size, thankfully Cortana had alerted him to that particular action and he managed to convince the Rogue that sneaking around like that in his ship might be fun to some people, but it was asking for trouble from him, after all, the Gnome's path would have taken him to the engine room and who knew just how much trouble he was going to get himself into.

He had managed to seal up the air duct entrance and made sure to increase security around the Dawn, it wasn't that he was trying to show hostility towards the Gnomes, but he wanted to them to know that too much curiosity was asking for trouble. Which was why he made sure that there were security systems in the vents, they were not deadly of course, but were going to provide more than enough incentive to keep the Gnomes or anyone else for that matter to try and sneak around in the Dawn in a way that was sure to invite trouble.

…

In route to Azeroth…

John sighed a bit as he looked over the approaching continent of Azeroth and began to reset the scanners of the Pelican Drop-ship for scanning the area to locate any veins of Mithril. He had been able to develop the sensors well enough to detect metals and with the satellite overhead providing more information to him naturally helped with the hunt for the metals in question. It was not long before the adjustments were done and he focused himself into locating any and all metals.

Cortana appeared next to the Spartan via the Pelican's holo-tank and spoke to him.

"You all right big guy?"

"Yeah, let's get this over and done with so we can get some work done, by the way I think it's time we go back into space and deploy more of the satellite drones into space to give us more information. The one we have is working fine, but having more eyes in the sky will be a lot more effective in the long run."

"I know, we'll get to work on that soon enough. In the mean time we should make this quick, hopefully we have enough tools and explosives to get the metals we need."

John nodded at that, on the side was a regular MA5C Assault Rifle with the regular load out though he carried some of the 'Anti-magic' rounds just to be safe and he also had an M90 Shotgun and a M6G Magnum, most people would have wondered just why he had this much weaponry and he merely would have replied that it was a precaution.

They flew over the area known as Stranglethorn Vale, he located a good enough site to operate in and soon found a good number of metal nodes, and apart from mithril, there was gold and silver as well, useful materials to be sure and he decided to get to work. He decided to let Cortana handle the rest as he leaped out and laded the beach to secure it, once he was done and determined that there were no other threats nearby, he gave the signal to his A.I companion that it was all clear to land, Cortana guided the Pelican to a good spot and began to lock it down before allowing herself to be transferred into the MJOLNIR.

"All right John, time to get to work. Let's get all the materials in and get back to the Dawn as soon as well."

John nodded as he began to get the tools and explosives out, having already tagged the metal nodes with his MJOLNIR. As soon as he had everything placed in proper order, he went to work with Cortana making sure that no one got the drop on them while they were working.

…

Unknown to the Spartan, he and Cortana were not alone entirely as he was being watched by several other eyes, but by those of another race entirely...

The woman was dressed metallic armor which was somewhat similar to the uniform used by the Sentinels though she had leather in black there in her outfit, wore boot/leggings with armor that reached to the upper areas of her thighs, she also had gloves on with armor, and wore a cloak of some sort which was made in the color of blood red held there by black pauldrons which were rather small and light, she also had some sort of chocker made from black leather with a large pink gemstone there as well. The clothing she wore would have made her a drop dead gorgeous woman, and in truth she was one, her hair was deep red like her cloak and had a figure that would have made any man worth his manhood look on lewdly.

However, she was no ordinary woman as she had two curving horns on the sides of her head and her eyes were glowing like topaz crystals. There was also an aura around her that radiated power and strength. To add to that, was the fact that despite being surrounded by two massive red Dragons along with Rhonin and Vereesa, she seemed to be highly respected by all of them, and the two children of the leaders of Dalaran seemed to be in awe of the woman.

She was Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, Aspect and Queen of the Red Dragon Flight, and is recognized as the guardian of all life in Azeroth. She was one of the five strongest Dragons chosen by the Titans in the past to oversee things on Azeroth when they left so long ago. And she was named as queen and leader of all the Dragon Flights, showing the level of power and trust given to her by the Titans.

She came there to Dalaran as she had heard rumors of this new arrival and while she would have preferred to remain in solitude to help heal the hurts of the land and also help in the recovery of her Flight, she decided to see what she could learn more of this stranger. She had seen the fall of the Dawn many months before, but she had sensed nothing and it was not hitting any location there that would be filled with people, and at the time, she was still trying to find a solution to some important concerns that affected her Flight in particular.

Now that she had heard rumors of what this…Spartan was doing in this land, she became curious, and she decided, along with her consort and one of the younger members of her Flight. As she looked at the Spartan, she turned to Rhonin and spoke to the Archmage.

"So this is the man you spoke of?"

"Yes lady Alexstrasza, he is the Spartan who has been rather busy as of late in the lands of the Night Elves."

The Red Dragon closest to the Dragon Queen in human form looked at the image a bit and replied in was undeniably a male voice.

"He certainly is different from the ones I have seen in my many years, if what you say is true about him Rhonin, then he is not from Azeroth at all."

"Yes, he claims to be from a group of humans who have embraced the ways of technology than magic and have built an empire that spans the stars of their world."

"I see…what do you think my Queen?"

Alexstrasza turned to the Dragon, she smiled at him in her humanoid form and spoke to him. After all he was her consort and had helped in freeing her from her captivity so many years before.

"He seems to be an interesting sort, and if what Rhonin said is true, then he worth watching Koriasltrasz, his actions will need to be monitored so we shall know what his purpose while he is here will be."

Vereesa was a bit surprised by this and she spoke with respect to the Dragon Queen.

"Begging my pardon Lady Alexstrasza, but you wish to have him watched? The Alliance and the Horde as well as we have already sent many to watch him, so why would you wish him watched by one of your own?"

The Dragon Queen nodded and Koriasltrasz decided to take that responsibility and took his disguise of Krasus once more with a burst of magic and spoke to his queen.

"I shall go immediately to watch him my Queen."

However, the Dragon Queen shook her head at that with a smile.

"Not this time, I need you here with me for now Koriasltrasz, you have been one of my most active agents, and you have done much for Azeroth and all life. There is nothing that I know that can equal all you have done by far. However, I believe the time has come for others of our growing flight to take their place as guardians of life. Besides, you and I have some lost time to catch up on."

"Oh?"

"Yes…I think it's time to add some new members to the Flight, and since you are my consort, I think it is time you did your OTHER duties as such, do you not agree Koriasltrasz?"

As soon as that left the Dragon Queen's mouth, the disguised Red Dragon actually looked embarrassed by what his beloved queen had just said to him, Rhonin tried his best not to laugh at his mentor's reaction to his queen's suggestion while Vereesa was thankful that her children were not in earshot as she had managed to send them away earlier so they would be in the care of their watchers. It was then that they noticed that the Spartan had stopped working on his gathering of the metals.

He was now crouching behind a large boulder nearby with his weapon in hand and scanning the area, and even though they didn't see his face, there was no denying that he was focused on something. This made Alexstrasza raise her eyebrow a bit as she observed the Spartan.

"Interesting, it seems that he has noticed our scrying attempt on him as if he can sense magic somehow. This makes watching even more promising. I think it would be best that we allow him to return to his base of operations for now, and when he gets there, we shall pay him a visit."

Koriasltrasz recovered well enough from his embarrassment and spoke to his queen.

"I'll agree to your wished my Queen, but who will you send to watch over this Spartan?"

The Dragon Queen merely smiled, and that was something that made everyone in the room rather curious about what was going on in her mind.

…

Back in Stranglethorn Vale…

John looked about the beach and the lands beyond to make sure that he was able to see what the heck was looking at him. He had been working on the metals when his military senses turned on and went into overdrive. That was more than enough to make him drop everything he was doing earlier and quickly go for cover while grabbing his Assault Rifle. As soon as he reached the boulder, he quickly took cover and began to look about for the source that had triggered his senses.

He scanned the area before him with his Assault Rifle at the ready, he had sensed something like this before when he was repairing his MJOLNIR Mark VI months before with Cortana, but he had to focus all of his attention to the MJOLNIR's repairs and it was a brief thing, so he let it slide for now, and with Cortana helping him in repairs and maintenance, he was not having the best of sensor capabilities. This time around however, he was very wary of what had happened and was on full alert. He began to filter through the vision modes of his helmet and scanned every inch of the area around him.

Seeing nothing but still feeling uneasy, he spoke to Cortana.

"Cortana, can you scan the area for anything that would explain what the hell I am feeling right now?"

"Hold on, I'm accessing the Satellite for a more open picture as well as accessing the Pelican's own scanners here on the ground…"

John waited for a second or two until Cortana finally spoke to him.

"There's some considerable spiking in the energy wave frequencies all of a sudden, but I can't get an exact fix, too much interference…whatever it is, it's certainly different from what I've sensed. Hold on…I lost it, it's gone John."

John felt his danger senses drop and that told him that Cortana was right on the money on that one and he slowly began to relax, whatever that feeling was, he was going to have to remember it. This world had a lot of things that still gave him a hard time accepting it to be fact and normal. He shook his head and placed down the Assault Rifle and went back to work. He did not like some of the things in this world, while he managed tolerating others as well, and some were actually very good.

Hours later, he finished his work and soon packed away the gathered materials into the Pelican and secured his cargo. Once that was done he powered up the Pelican and was soon on his way back to his base, but not before checking the fuel gauge on the Pelican and loaded up the fuel tanks with the water from the sea into the Pelican's systems. Once he was assured that the Pelican had extra fuel to compensate for the new loads, he took off and headed back to base.

Unaware of the fact that he was about to get a visit from one of the most famous beings in Azeroth…

…

In the Dawn…

The people in the Dawn turned to see the Pelican Drop-ship arriving at the base and soon the Spartan came out and was greeted by Sandra who had just finished a good deal of hunting outside of the base for the day's meal and the Hunter was more than happy to see the man return safe and sound, White Claw himself was there as well and it seemed that the wolf had began to develop a level of trusted towards the massive armored giant of a human.

"So you made it back safe and sound Spartan, nice to see you here, Kaelyn's currently out on some patrol matters so do you mind if you join me for a meal?"

John thought it over and nodded as he replied as well.

"Why not?"

The two of them moved to an open area and Sandra gathered some fire wood and got a fire-pit at the ready, she placed the wood down and quickly got her trusty flint and tinder ready, and started a fire in record time, much to the Spartan's appreciation.

"Nice, did that in record time."

Sandra looked up with a smile and replied.

"Thank you for the compliment, now then, I'll be right back with the meat so don't go anywhere just yet."

John nodded and sure enough, Sandra came back and had with her a side of deer meat and as soon as she cut off some of it to feed White Claw who was more than happy with the food from his mistress, she went to work cutting and readying to meat to roast, she took out some honey, herbs and wine to add to the flavor of the meat.

All the while John noted how well Sandra was doing with her food preparation…and before he could stop himself, he was also admiring how she looked in her leather armor, as she had no doubt removed her chainmail for cleaning purposes. He had to admit that seeing her in this situation, readying food, and wearing well made leather armor had a rather interesting affect on him…something that Cortana was quick to pick up.

"Careful John, you're giving her the…what was that term again? Oh yeah, the 'Once over'"

"I am not going that Cortana…"

The A.I was not convinced as despite the serious tone that John used to say that statement she could see past it and see that he was indeed affected by his staring at the Night Elf.

"Yes you are, I know you John, you don't have to be shy about it, truth be told, she IS an attractive woman, in fact, I have to say that being surrounded by this many females is something most men your actual age can only dream of, so there's no reason for you to not enjoy it a bit."

"You're impossible sometimes Cortana…"

"I know, but at least I'm honest about what I think, anyway, I think that you might want to get your thoughts back on track, she's looking at you."

John got his focus back and sure enough, Cortana was correct as Sandra was looking at him with a curious gleam in her eye and she spoke.

"Are you all right Spartan? You seem oddly silent for some reason."

"Nothing, just thinking about something."

Sandra wasn't entirely convinced by his statement but since she was no stranger to Spartan body language, she was not able to find out if there was any truth in his statement. As they got the food cooking, she looked to see the Spartan remove his helmet in order to eat some of the food that was there. The Night Elf Hunter took some simple wooden plates and a cutting knife and began to cut some of the meat off the spit roast and gave some to the Spartan and then some for himself.

As the Spartan ate his food methodically, the Night Elf got the chance to admire him once more, she liked it a lot when she was able to see his face. The Hunter also began to have some very interesting thoughts take form in her head concerning the Spartan before her. However, she was more than willing to entertain those said thoughts as she looked at each action he took and began to have very interesting thoughts, only these were focused on having the man take off his Armor…and also other articles of clothing…

The Hunter then stopped herself as she blushed warmly at her thoughts and spoke to herself.

(Easy there girl, you'll have time for that at a much later time, besides, until I can get to know him better, I am threading on unknown waters here.)

She began to eat her own food and as she enjoyed her very own meal of well cooked and flavored, it was then that her trained hunter's eye noted that the man was looking at her as well. It was faint but there was no denying that the Spartan was looking at her. She smirked a bit more and decided to try her luck a bit and position herself in a position which was still comfortable and showed a bit more of her form to the Spartan despite her clothing being leather armor. Her action had gotten a reaction from the Spartan, a slight one at that as he merely widened his eyes a bit, but that was enough to put an even bigger smile on her face.

(Well now…this is not as hard as I thought, anyway, this is a start, I will have to be a bit more forward at some point in time, but let's try a test.)

Sandra spoke then to the Spartan.

"Can I ask you a question?"

The Spartan looked at her and gave a nod, and that was a good start and she decided to speak out her question to the man before her.

"How do people view you and your fellow Spartans when they meet you for the first time?"

John thought it over and replied.

"Most of the time, that depends on who sees us, if they are civilians, they look at us with awe, shock and fear."

"I can see why, what about fellow soldiers like the Marines, the Army, the Navy, and the…Air Force?"

"Most Marines can't believe we're actually real beings before them, not just propaganda cooked up by the spooks in ONI, other Marines see us as allies and fellow soldiers, others call us freaks and inhuman, the ODSTs most of all."

Sandra was shocked by that as she had expected the people who the Spartan protected would show more gratitude to their protectors and she made that clear to the Spartan.

"But why would they view you as freaks? You use your abilities to defend humanity as a whole just like any soldier, so why would they do that?"

"It's natural, we're not exactly human to begin with, we were…normal children at first, but after we were taken and became Spartans, we ceased to be normal people by any standard."

Sandra nodded at that and couldn't help but feel a good deal of pity for the Spartan and showed it in her sad expression and in her words.

"Even so, they should at least recognize your achievements and the sacrifices that you have made in order to safe guard them. I'm not trying to sound overbearing or anything since I have never experienced the things that you have experienced in your own world, but you deserve to be remembered and recognized, in any fashion."

John could see that Sandra meant it and while he could understand some of what she was saying, he simply replied to that with the same stoic attitude that he had when he was thinking about something serious.

"No soldier should be honored for doing what is required of him. I don't do what I do for recognition or fame, I do it because it is my duty as a Spartan."

Sandra saw that he was serious about something like that and she had to admit that it was an admirable trait as most humans would be boastful about their accomplishments, but John was not, focusing only on what had to be done. She smiled at that and spoke out her own thoughts on the matter.

"Maybe what you say is true Spartan, but that certainly does not mean that you should not be remembered, I can bet that back there in your world, your people remember you and no doubt honor you and those who did the same things you did. No matter what you might think, you are deserving of honor and respect."

John thought it over and nodded a bit.

"I suppose you are right in that regard."

"By the way….have you ever revealed your face to anyone in the UNSC?"

"No, only key personnel have seen my face, but the majority has not."

"Really, so I guess that means that we all here in the base are the only ones who have been able to see your face without having to be. That's quite a surprising thing and I personally happen to like it a good deal. Do any of them comment about you when they see you?"

"They do, and some of the responses can be interesting."

"Really? How interesting are we talking about here?"

However, before that conversation could go any further, there was a cry from some of the people in the base, John turned and spotted some of the residents pointing in the sky and he looked there, and to his surprise he saw three massive shapes heading this way towards the base at a considerable speed. He was surprised as to what was going on and it was soon that Sandra spoke to him.

"We need to see what they are quickly!"

The Spartan nodded as he placed on his helmet once more and the two of them headed to one of the towers there and John quickly lifted one of the Sniper Rifles there and looked through the scope to identify just what was coming this way to his base of all places. The second he saw that the three objects in question were giant lizards with horns and wings and had red scales, he couldn't help but feel like he had just been handed the surprise of the year.

There was only one kind of creature in the fantasy books that he had briefly seen being read by civilians and soldiers, that came close to these three creatures.

(Dragons….honest to life Dragons, I wonder what the others would say about this?)

Cortana also spoke to the Spartan, voicing her own take at what she was also looking at.

"Well now, we've got Dragons this time around, looks like we're going to be in for the long haul Chief. Better as Sandra if she knows what sort of Dragons those happen to be."

The Spartan nodded and told Sandra what he had just seen and to his surprise, the woman smiled and replied.

"Those are members of the Red Dragon Flight, don't worry, they are the guardians of life here in the world of Azeroth and are considered to be good beings even among us Night Elves. However I think it would be best that we tell the Orcs to hide."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not all that sure about the details, but there's some dark history there, the Red Dragons despise evil races, but have a marked dislike for the Orcs so that might be a problem."

John was quick to put two and two together as he recalled what he learned about the Horde in the Second War, the fact that they had enslaved the Red Dragons and their Queen would no doubt make the Red Dragons hostile to the Orcs. That was the last thing that he needed, a trio of angry Dragons doing who knows what to his base the very second they saw Orcs. He had difficulties enough trying to keep the more hot tempered members of either faction from going to blows, dealing with massive fire breathing creatures that he had little to no data on was only going to make things even worse.

"Great, let's get this over with."

…

As the Spartan and the Hunter, along with everyone else arrived to see the three Dragons, John spotted a portal appear in the base and out came the two High Elf Mages from Dalaran . Their names in his memory were Mariel Suntreader and Anandor Dawnsword and were very capable in the arts of arcane magic though they stayed away from the Night Elves who still had a very marked dislike for them. He gave them a nod of recognition and they moved up to him with Mariel speaking first.

"Good to see you again Spartan, no doubt you've seen the three Dragons coming here, they are not enemies so please try not to act hostile."

The second he finished his words, all three Dragons in question landed before the Spartan and walked towards him, the largest one of them was ahead of the others two, telling the Spartan and his A.I companion that this Dragon in particular must be a high ranking one, if Dragons did possess a society of sorts that was by human standards. To his surprise and Cortana's own, the leading Dragon spoke to him in the human tongue and in a female voice no less.

"So I finally meet the Spartan at last, you are unusually tall for a human."

John had no idea what to do in a situation like this, before him were trio of massive Dragons who had deep red scales and seemed to be staring right at him. The meaning of fear was not lost to the Spartan though he rarely felt that particular emotion, and he was able to avoid feeling fear at most if not all of his life. He focused on trying to find out just what he was going to say to this creature as it evidently could speak the human languages easily enough.

Even though she couldn't see his face, Alexstrasza could tell that the Spartan was confused as to who or what she was, along with her consort Koriasltrasz and her Flight's newly chosen representative to the man before her. She however did not that there was no trace of fear, and that was admirable to her in many respects. She then decided to speak once more to put the man at ease and show that she and her companions were not threats to him.

"Be at ease Spartan, my kindred and I are not here to fight you."

John decided to take a chance and hope his luck held out, while his MJOLNIR was nigh indestructible by most standards, he was not going to take a risk and anger the Dragons in some fashion, he didn't like the image of what they might do to him after all. He placed aside his Assault Rifle and then spoke to the now obviously female Dragon.

"Who are you, exactly?"

"I am Alexstrasza, The Life Binder, Queen of the Red Dragon Flight, and Guardian of Life here in Azeroth, I have heard much of you from Rhonin and Vereesa when I came to Dalaran and decided to meet you for myself. However, I have to commend you for something."

"And what is that something that you want to commend me about, exactly Dragon Queen Alexstrasza?"

"You were able to sense our scrying attempt while you were in Stranglethorn Vale, and while some people can sense it, you are not of this world and from a technological world at that, so to be able to sense that attempt is a very interesting feat."

"I see…and the other two with you from your…flight are who exactly?"

The one to the right of the female Dragon spoke in what was no doubt a male voice.

"I am Koriasltrasz, I am the consort of Queen Alexstrasza, and serve as her chief advisor to her in many key affairs affecting our flight and those under our protection."

John nodded and directed his gaze at the other Dragon who seemed to notice that and despite not showing any expression….at least in human terms, the Spartan could tell that the Dragon was somewhat amused by the direction of his gaze. It spoke in what was a female voice, though despite not knowing the exact age of this one Dragon, this one sounded like that of a teenage girl to the Spartan.

"I am Marlyndatrasza, I happen to be the one chosen by both my Queen and Lord Koriasltrasz to serve as my people's watcher in your encampment."

That confused the Spartan a good deal as he had no idea that this was going to happen to him of all things, and he spoke that out to the Dragon Queen.

"Forgive me for sounding confused, but you want one of your…people to watch over me?"

"That is correct Spartan, you are not from this world, and that makes you an anomaly and something that should be watched. Do not mistake that for a threat however, as I have stated before, I have learned much about you from Rhonin and his wife so I am assured that you are not a danger. Still, as the Life Binder, I have a duty to watch the world, and since you are new here, I wish to know what you plan to do while you are in this world."

John had to admit that her argument made some sense, but he did have rules to his place and Dragon Queen or not, he had to make it clear to Alexstrasza that he was not going to budge on the matter on keeping the peace in his base.

"I will have to discuss some matters concerning your plan to have one of your people here Queen Alexstrasza, but one thing I have to stress out is it's not going to be easy having a Dragon here, no offense but I don't exactly have the room."

The three Dragons seemed to understand and Koriasltrasz spoke as well.

"You need not worry about that Spartan, we Dragons can assumed a more humanoid form, and I believe we should do so to ensure that you will not have to worry about use being in our natural forms and causing some disturbances."

Sure enough, the three Red Dragons transformed into their humanoid disguises, he saw the appearance of Koriasltrasz and recorded the High Elf look of the male Red Dragon and vowed to keep an eye on the Dragon in question if they would ever cross paths once more. He also did the same for Alexstrasza though he had to admit that the horns might make her stand out a bit more than most.

Marlyndatrasza's disguise was that of a human female wearing normal working clothes but having on chainmail and she seemed to favor two simple short swords that were on her back. She had her hair blood red like her scales and was short, only up to her shoulder with a long tail reaching to the back of her waist. The now disguised female Dragon was rather attractive, the only possible indicators that she was not a human was the aura she radiated which was beyond that of most of the people in the base when John looked at her and her people's leaders through magical scanner system he had with him in his MJOLNIR.

All three Dragons radiated great power, greater than most he had seen by far, and it would make some sense as he had a feeling that being magical creatures, Dragons would no doubt have power beyond that of most mortal races. He then decided to escort them into the large bunker that was his field command center in the base next to the Dawn.

As soon as they were in the building, the Spartan began to explain some things about what he wanted from Marlyndatrasza to follow while she was here, the most serious one was his desire for her not to make any dangerous actions towards the Horde Orcs who were in his base. This naturally did not sit well with the Dragons, namely the Dragon Queen as she was still able to remember just how much suffering and pain she had to endure when she was used a beast for breeding by the Orcs.

Once John had fully explained the rules to the now transformed Alexstrasza, Koriasltrasz, and Marlyndatrasza, he was informed that they were willing to give in to his rules. However, they had made requests of their own, the first was that their representative be given the authority to defend herself from harm if she was in danger, that request was something that John could agree to. The next was that she was allowed to come and go as she pleased to give reports of his actions to them, yet another thing that the Spartan agreed to as she did have that right to do so.

And the last, was that the young Dragon was not to be left alone with the Orcs as both Koriasltrasz and Alexstrasza wanted her to be safe. They knew that the current Horde had no desire to court the wrath of the Red Dragon Flight, but that hardly meant that the Orcs would not mistake her as a human and might do something that could result in harm to the young Dragon.

John agreed to that request as well and soon after finalizing some things with the two older Dragon leaders, he bid them farewell and soon decided to get some things done and get a room for the new guest to his base.

…

Ever since the meeting between him and the apparent leader of the Red Dragon Flight and accepting the residence of a disguised Red Dragon, he felt like he had one heck of a meeting place in the lands of the Night Elves at this point. The good news was that things were a lot more stable for him. The disguised Dragon requested him to refer to her as Marlyn instead of her formal Dragon name so it would be a lot easier for him and the others. That was a good thing for him and he managed to spend some days getting her to understand some of the things he had in his base.

The female Red Dragon might look like a human female teenager, and at times acted like her appearance, but John kept in mind that she was far from human, and the fact that she was a lot more powerful than a good number of the members of the two factions here in the base who used Magic. The fact that everyone knew that she was a Red Dragon in disguise was more than enough to make people careful not to offend her. Thankfully Marlyn didn't let that get to her head as it were.

After a week or so, John was finally convinced by Erin to visit the Blood Elf city of Silvermoon, she said that it was time that he visit the Horde who were in the Eastern Kingdoms so he would be familiar with them as he was already familiar with the Horde who had taken residence in the land of Kalimdor itself. The Spartan couldn't find any fault with the idea as the Rogue did have a point so he decided to pack up some supplies and carry only basic gear and go with her back to Silvermoon, the other members of the Blood Elf group decided to remain in the base and kept an eye on things…or rather, the others would keep an eye on them as well as a copy of the A.I Cortana. The only ones going with the two of them were naturally Janna and Tannis as they were keen to see their home city once more.

Kaelyn and the others didn't quite like it but they knew that it was the Spartan's decision to do so, and they had no say in it as he was a neutral party and he was allowed by Tyrande to come and go as he pleased when it was needed. They only warned him to be careful, though the Spartan noted that both Sandra and Kaelyn were very serious about that request and both female Night Elves were looking pointedly at Erin and Janna. This was not something he enjoyed but placed it aside and thankfully Cortana decided not to mention it as he prepped the Pelican for the trip. It was not as spacious as the Albatross but it was a lot more economical in the long run and didn't take that long to fuel up when needed.

…

As the Pelican flew overhead towards the location of Silvermoon City, the Spartan made sure to fly at a high altitude while relying on the scanners to see what was on the ground. He could see the corrupted lands below and he didn't like what he was seeing. He had seen the devastation of battle fields scarred by plasma fire and more, and the destruction of entire worlds by the weapons of the Covenant Fleets, as well as the corruption done by the spores of the Flood.

But seeing the lands hit by the Plague of Undeath was something that was very new to the Spartan, new and troubling as well, and the same could be said for Cortana as they spotted the moving forms of the Undead Scourge for the first time, and since they had been able to read up on the events following the rise of the Scourge and fall of both the Kingdom of Lordaeron and that of Quel'Thalas. They could understand just why these lands were heavily contested by various factions.

However, it was going to take a serious amount of time, resources, manpower, and magic to clean up the mess left behind by the Scourge. The Spartan placed such thoughts out of his mind as he was focused on making sure to avoid hotspots that would be in the area since if the Pelican was spotted, who knew what might happen. He flew with the directions given to him by Erin and soon enough, the Spartan was able to see the city of the Blood Elves itself. The massive city seemed to be beautiful at the very first glance but the Spartan already knew not to judge through the first glance as he kept in mind the history of the Blood Elves.

….

Silvermoon City…

As the Pelican landed on the area, there was a natural response from the Blood Elves who were in the area. They stopped when they spotted the UNSC Drop-ship and wondered just what the ship was and what was it doing here in their city of all things. A number of Guardsmen appeared and were ready to attack if the occupants of this strange vessel were enemies. The back of the massive ship opened and to their surprise, they spotted three of their kindred Blood Elves walk out and soon, the three of them were followed by a behemoth of a man in green and black armor with a golden face plate.

The guards watched in absolute confusion but were wary nonetheless as they had their weapons at the ready at the group. Erin spoke to them in their native tongue of Thalassian, something that John was quick to understand due to Cortana having completed a translation program for the High Elf/Blood Elf language.

"Who are you? And what is that?"

"My name's Erin Firestar, with me are Tannis and Janna, a Farstrider and one of our people's Blood Knights. As for the…giant behind us, we call him Spartan?'

"Spartan? What sort of name is that?"

"It's the only name he goes by, it's an odd name for a human to have, I'll admit that much, but that's the only name we have for him."

"Human?"

The Guards looked at the Spartan incredulously and the head guard spoke once more as the other Blood Elves who were nearby heard that and were already looking at the Spartan with wide eyes.

"No offense meant, but are you sure that…thing is human? I've never seen humans that tall before and certainly no humans wearing that sort of armor before in my life! And what is that thing you all and him just came out from?"

"It's hard to explain, but let's just say that he's not from the lands of the Alliance or even that of the Horde for that matter. You can send word to Regent Lord Lor'themar and tell him that the Spartan is here to see our city for himself."

"You expect me to believe that the Lord Regent KNOWS this…human?"

Erin sighed and wished that her fellow Blood Elf was not this dense and replied.

"Yes, Lord Lor'themar assigned me and several others of our kin as our people's representatives to him, he might not look like it, but he has weapons and technology that far outshines anything the Alliance has. He's not part of the Alliance or the Horde either, he's a neutral party in this."

"Neutral huh? All right then, I'll send word to Lord Lor'themar if he does know this human…in the mean time, you make sure that you and the others keep an eye on this human."

As the head guard ordered one of the guards to go and send word to their leader the Spartan began to scan the city, even if it was just a section of the said city before him. He spotted a number of massive statues, one would expect them to be merely statues, but his magical scanners said otherwise as auras of magical energy were there around the massive forms. No doubt these were golems, secret guards that would no doubt come to the city's defense if needed. They also spouted words about one Prince Kael'thas who the Spartan knew well enough is his readings and knew that this was propaganda in the making.

The guards were also well armed and equipped and carried themselves well enough to show considerable military experience. However, their numbers were few at this area which would only be counteracted with the Golems and possible traps. This matched up to his study of the Horde races having a lower population than the Alliance races. He studied the section a lot more noted that while the city looked serene and beautiful, the overuse of magical energy was everywhere he looked with the magical scanner mode.

That coupled with the magical addiction of the Blood Elves told the Spartan that while there was beauty here, there was also danger and some sort of dark center. In a way it was almost like ancient Rome in it's waning years in his study of history. The Roman Empire was at it's fall and while it retained the outer beauty, it was rotting inside it's inner core.

Cortana likewise noted that and spoke.

"I think we'd best be careful here, while I think we can trust Erin and her comrades to a good degree, I think the rest of the people here are not exactly friendly and we have to be wary."

"Right."

John then decided to take a pair of Combat Knives and lock down the Pelican while leaving his guns in the Drop-ship. He was more than able to hold his own without his guns so he was hardly worried.

It was not long before the guard sent to meet Lor'themar came back and soon told their leader that their regent did know who the Spartan was and allowed him to tour the city before he would ask for a discussion with the Spartan. The Blood Elf head guard didn't quite like it but seeing the order of their leader, made him place that train of thought aside and spoke to Erin.

"All right, you can show him around, but make sure that he does not go to places he's not supposed to, we have a lot to worry about and watching over any unknown being is not something we concern ourselves with."

Erin smiled and without any hesitation, takes the Spartan's hand and pulls to show him around, instead of refusing, the Spartan decided to play along and follow her while Janna and Tannis followed as well. Erin took pride in her home city and did her best to show the sights to the Spartan and she was happy that she was finally able to take the Spartan away from the land of the Night Elves and have some private time with the man.

She showed to the Spartan the areas and buildings in the Walk of Elder section and moved out show to him the other parts of the city, the one place she told the Spartan that she could not take him to was the walled over section known as the Dead Scar, John had asked what it was but Erin refused to answer though she did as best she could not to show it. John was not fooled and wagered a guess that the name had significance to the Blood Elves.

The group moved on to the Bazaar and Erin was eager to see if there was anything that she could find a good use for, namely new potions for her to use as well as poisons to add to her weapons. Janna herself was eager to get some new gear while Tannis bought some new arrows for this work as a Farstrider. The Bazaar was a very active place as John scanned it, though he noted that he was being looked at the Blood Elves, men, women, children, young, old, the works, there were guards and adventurers as well as those of various professions walking about who would look at his direction. So far none of them were doing anything that would be considered a hostile action, but John was not going to let his guard down just because everything was calm.

Once they were done with the Bazaar, the group moved on to the rest of the city, they were still being looked at by the passing Blood Elves though the majority of the stares were on the guest of the three Blood Elves, some were looks of confusion, others were wariness, and curiosity. John was not going to lower his guard just yet as he did have some weapons. They moved to the Royal Exchange and there John saw the rest of the city of Silvermoon. The place was impressive indeed and was no doubt showing a great deal more economic and trade clout than the Bazaar.

It was then that the group turned to see a small number of Blood Elves dressed in some form of heavy armor, John scanned them to determine that this group had a good deal of energy that was similar to that of the Holy Light, telling him that they were Blood Knights, the woman in the middle of them however wore a badge of office and no doubt was a high ranking Blood Knight.

The group stopped and then the woman spoke to the Spartan.

"Greetings to you Spartan, Lord Lor'themar spoke of you when he returned from his trip to Orgrimmar. You helped save several of our people as well, that is something that I had not expected from a human, that is if you are truly human."

"I am, just not the kind of human you're people are familiar with."

"I can see that, I am Lady Liadrin, leader of the Blood Knights, you have to be commended for helping our people even though we still have some level of doubt towards your actions and your intentions."

It was then that Cortana suddenly spoke to the Spartan.

"John! I'm picking up some powerful energy spikes coming from the north of the city! I'm sending you the visual package now!"

John was quick to look as the mages come to him. To his surprise, he spotted a portal appear in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of military style barracks of considerable size. He mentally commanded the image to be enhanced, Cortana was quick to result and the was soon shown in more detail to the Spartan. He spotted an apparent Blood Elf who had several objects floating on top of his body like a halo of sorts, he had a long cloak and crimson armor.

The others with him however were only looking like Blood Elves to some degree, they had black wing like protrusions, cracks on their bodies that were releasing green energy in mist and lighting form, they also had odd tattoos and as well as some form of glowing eyes, similar to the Blood Elves, but darker and fiercer, their skin tone was also off. The aura of pure Fel energy coming from the group was enough to tell him that something was seriously wrong with them.

He turned and spoke to Lady Liadrin.

"What's there at the Northern end of the City?"

"Farstrider's Square, it is the military district of the city, why do you ask?"

"It's under attack !"

Before anyone could respond, John took off at high speed, stunning the Blood Elves around him as they had not expected him to move that fast, with the exception of Erin as she had already seen him in action before. Lady Liadrin had no idea what was going on but she was not going to waste time gawking as she recovered and took out her sword and ordered her fellow Blood Knights to follow her. Erin and the others were more than willing to come along.

It was not long before they heard cries and oaths that actually confirmed the Spartan's words. This bewildered the Blood Elves as they knew that the only way an attacking force could attack Silvermoon City was through the front gate or by teleportation and they were well defended. The only way someone would have been able to attack the city without them knowing was by teleporting by other means.

They arrived and soon enough, they spotted the Spartan who looked over the area and to their horror, they spotted their people who were in the Square fighting…with demons! And that was when they spotted a figure who they were all able to recognize.

(Prince Kael'thas!)

They should have been elated by the arrival of their people's noble leader, but to their horror, the Prince was commanding these demons to kill their own kindred, and then vanishing into the barracks. As soon as the Prince was out of sight, the Spartan was quick to move and take the fight to the creatures before him. They joined him as the Spartan quickly used his Combat Knives to slice apart the first three demonic elves that tried to face him.

In other instances, Erin would have loved to see the Spartan do his blade work in battle, finding his abilities inspiring, but that was not in her mind as she was reeling by what she had just witnessed. As she and the others were soon joining the Spartan, she and the others including Lady Liadrin were horrified when they finally got a closer look at the attackers…

They were Blood Elves…but they were no longer Elves, but monsters…even though they siphoned magic to stave off their addiction, Liadrin and the others with John maintained their control so not to let their addictions control them…before them however were their people who had willingly given over to the addiction…and took it to terrifying heights.

The groups fought on killing more of them with the Spartan in the lead as he slashed and stabbed with his Knives, sending dark colored blood from the creatures before him as he cut them down. The Blood Elves who were there fought as best they could and were soon joined by a number of surviving Blood Elves who had been able to hold their own in the initial assault. Liadrin ordered some of them who were able to recover to call on the Guards to secure the area and keep the civilians from danger.

The Guards did so and as soon as the fighting in the outside ended, the Spartan quickly moved into the building the chase down Prince Kael'thas with his Combat Knives still covered in black blood that dripped off the blades, Liadrin was relieved that some Priests arrived with the reinforcements and quickly ordered them to check on the wounded and save many of them as they can. She quickly moved to follow the Spartan with her own blood covered sword, she was also joined by Erin, Tannis, and Janna.

As soon as they went in, they saw several more of their fellow Blood Elves in the building a number were dead and horribly torn apart while there were some still alive. The group moved to see more dead Felblood Elves who were no doubt slain by the lucky ones of their people or by the Spartan himself.

….

The Blood Knight's Inner halls…

John rushed down and saw that a large number of Blood Elves had been killed and to his and Cortana's utter shock, they spotted a number of Blood Elf guards with their bodies torn up and those…demonic elves actually drinking the blood of their own kindred. He couldn't help but feel sickened by this and quickly readied his Combat Knives.

"By the Sunwell….no…."

John recognized the voice as that of Erin and Janna as well as Tannis, he gave a quick turn to see them and saw that their faces were showing great horror and shock at the sight before them all as they looked at their twisted brethren attacking the others and feeding on them like rabid animals. The gorging Felblood Elves looked and grinned as they readied themselves to kill both their former kindred and this new human in armor.

However they were not going to get that chance as one of them got a Combat Knife right in the brain as the Spartan tossed it right at him with deadly accuracy, he rushed in quickly and landed a powerful bone crushing punch into the chest of the Felblood Elf before him and sent the creature flying hard into a wall. He turned just as another Felblood Elf charged right at him. However, this creature was soon intercepted by a sword strike by Lady Liadrin who had decapitated the former Blood Elf, her face twisted in grief and rage at the same time. She looked at one her former kindred, twisted and perverted into a demonic mockery of his former self.

And it seemed that Lady Liadrin recognized the one she had just killed.

"Martenn…by the Sunwell…what happened to you…"

The Spartan knew that now was not the time to grieve and he made that clear.

"We have no time for this Lady…"

The leader of the Blood Knights looked at the Spartan and nodded grimly as she hefted her still bloody sword and replied.

"I know…Kael'thas as a LOT to answer for, and I will have those answers!"

The same expression was present in the other Blood Elves as they along with John moved deeper into the headquarters of the Blood Knights, the sight continued to horrify them. Many apprentice and senior Blood Knights were badly wounded or worse, torn apart by their former kindred who were now nothing more than demon spawn. Occasionally they would find survivors, some were barely able to hang on to their lives as well as their sanity.

The sight was difficult for everyone there as they tried their best to save those that they could, but it was not going to be easy as for some reason, the healing magic that was present in all Blood Knights seemed to begin to weaken and this terrified the Blood Knights, even Erin who was not much of a magic user felt something was horribly wrong. Those who they were able to save were barely able to move and had to be taken out for more serious treatment, those who were too far gone had to be given a quick and painless death.

John could see that taking that choice of killing their kindred to end their suffering was torture to the Blood Elves, and Cortana saw that as well, she commented to what they had just witnessed.

"Something is seriously wrong here Chief, those were NOT Blood Elves, they are…different."

"No kidding, something is wrong here, I can feel it."

"You might be right."

It was not long befote they reached a chamber and Liadrin realized just what was going on.

"They are after the Naaru!"

Before John could reply, Liadrin rushed and opened the door, the others followed and they were now in a room where three Blood Elves were somewhat in some form of stupor and there were some of the Felblood Elves there. They readied their weapons until a male voice spoke to them. It had an elvish tone to it and was undeniably speaking Thalassian.

"No, we have what we came for, leave them alive for now."

The apparent leader of the Felblood Elves appeared before them and smiled insanely at the assembled group and she spoke.

"You are too late dear Liadrin…the Naaru is now with Prince Kael'thas, soon the destiny he has promised shall come and we Blood Elves shall reclaim all that is ours."

"You're not Blood Elves anymore…what have you done to yourselves…answer me!"

Liadrin was utterly enraged, the slaughter she had seen and the twisted and demonic forms these Elves had taken were utterly horrifying to her. She was no fool and knew that her people always skirted the edge of being corrupted with their feeding of any source of magic to heal their addiction, no matter what they said about it. The sight of the….beings before her was more than enough to convince her that they showed to her the future of her people if they ever allowed themselves to fall this far.

The Felblood elf laughed and replied.

"What you see is the future…we are more than Elves now, we shall rule the lands once more and we shall burn away all those who dare to stand against the destiny of the Blood Elves! With the power we have in our command, and the gifts of our new master…we shall rule!"

"Master…what master?"

The Felblood Elf smiled even more in an undeniably demonic fashion and replied.

"He gave us this power Liadrin, we no longer feel the pain of addiction, he freed us from it, gave us power beyond anything that can be offered by this world, as he soon shall free all of you from the bonds this…wretched world filled with those who are no longer worth our time and are nothing more than insects. With the Naaru under the control of the Prince, we shall bring our new savior from the blackness, and we shall join his mighty Legion and burn this world!"

That was enough for Liadrin to realize what or rather who this new 'Master' was…and that discovery was enough to send her to her knees in utter horror and shock.

"No…No…you…you sold yourselves…you sold yourselves to the Burning Legion! That is madness! Have you lost your minds?"

The Felblood Elves however laughed and soon vanished through a portal that appeared behind them. As the magic faded, the silence in the room was deafening and soon the only thing that broke the silence was the moans of the three Magisters who were now free yet still reeling from the attack and also the words of Liadrin as she looked at the ground.

"W-W-What have you done Prince Kael'thas? How could you sell us to the Burning Legion….please let this be a lie….by the Sunwell, please let this be a lie."

John then touched her shoulder armor and spoke to her seriously.

"Now is not the time for this, what happened was no lie Lady Liadrin, you saw it, we ALL saw it. But what matters now is that you do what you can to help your people. You will not be able to do anything for them if you are just staying here."

Liadrin looked at the Spartan and after a minute or two, nodded as she finally got up and took her sword, she turned and as soon as some of the still alive apprentice Blood Knights arrived on the scene she gave them orders to check the survivors and gather the last remaining energies from the Magisters, they were going to need it when they finally dealt with the new threat that has arisen.

As soon as she was done giving her orders to her followers, the leader of the Blood Knights turned to the Spartan and spoke to him.

"I…have to thank you for your help Spartan, but now, I must report to both Lord Lor'themar and Halduron Brightwing of what has happened."

The Spartan nodded at that and decided to help Liadrin out in some fashion, his reports on the matter might help out a bit though he doubted that it was going to be that simple.

…

Later…

Lor'themar was utterly stunned by what he had just been told and the same could be said for his fellow leader Halduron Brightwing. It had been a serious blow to them to see the forces Kael'thas had brought to Silvermoon and even more so when they were told of the taking of the Naaru that resulted in the deaths of many Blood Elves who were there in the building. The Lord Regent leaned down to place his head in his hands and tried to think up what they should do for a situation like this. Of all the things to learn about their kindred who were in Draenor, this was the worst kind of news.

The two looked at Lady Liadrin and the Spartan along with Erin, Janna, and Tannis, the leader of the Blood Knights remained silent as she waited for the plans of both leaders, Lor'themar looked at the Spartan and spoke to him first.

"Spartan, I have to thank you for your actions in helping our people when this savage attack occurred, and the….evidence you and Lady Liadrin have provided is troubling to say the least. To know that our own Crown Prince has willingly sided with the Burning Legion is a blow to the Blood Elves in more ways than one, we will gather whatever forces we can and answer this threat. Considering that, I believe that I will have to ask you to leave Silvermoon City as we have to prepare for the soon to come conflict. We will find out the truth and we will be ready to answer this threat."

John nodded and took his leave, with Erin, Janna, and Tannis joining him, the three Blood Elves had no idea what to do and they were not happy that they were not going to get the chance to help their people once they go to the location in Draenor. John however had a surprise for them all when they were about to board the Pelican that was still there in the area of the Walk of Elders. He turned to them and spoke to them quickly.

"Gather your gear and make sure that you have everything that you need, we're going to Outland."

This was enough to make the three Blood Elves stop in their tracks for a moment, and soon they were now moving at a much faster pace. And the three of them had grim looks of anticipation as they were more than ready to go to Outland to find out for themselves just what had turned their people into those horrors who had just attacked Silvermoon City.

…

In the Dawn…

John looked at the Albatross Drop-ship and loaded in the supplies and weapons he might need in this mission. After the incident that involved his trip to Silvermoon City, he decided that the situation was something that he had to take part in the actions of the Prince of the Blood Elves troubled him greatly and the information that he got about him consorting with demons was enough to warrant further investigation, and of course, the fact that this would present a serious threat was more added incentive.

He knew that if it did happen in the way the Third War turned out, this world would be enflamed in war and no doubt, despite his desire not to get too involved with anything that would be messing with the affairs of the Horde and the Alliance, he was going to get dragged in anyway. So he might as well take the initiative and deal with this as well. Cortana agreed with the idea and suggested that they were going to have to go for a full combat load-out since there was no telling what they would be fighting against.

The supplies he had comprised of spare packs of ammunition, both the basic rounds as well as the 'Anti-magic' rounds that have been improved by Cortana's study of the magical energies of the members of the Alliance and the Horde, as well as some other different types of ammunition, including the recognized Shredder Rounds, as well as a large number of grenades and weapons. These weapons included a small number of the new Mark II Assault Rifles, a small crate of the new Mark II Battle Rifles which were also made of Mithril and were colored black and grey in order to hide the silvery sheen from sight, he also had a small number of the new Sniper Rifles as well as an original Sniper Rifle for support, along with a small number of the new Mark II Assault Rifles and some basic M7 SMGs, these were his light weapons as he also had a single Spartan Laser with him as well as a recharging pack on the off chance he was going to be needing some more serious firepower.

These were not the only weapons as he carried a pair of Plasma Rifles, a Carbine with a good deal of it's cartridges, a pair of Beam Rifles, two Plasma Pistols, a pair of Spikers, and lastly was a pair of Covenant Energy Swords to help with his own set of Combat Knives and his own custom made Katana swords which were near the driver's chair. As much as he wanted to save the Covenant weapons and ammunition he had with him, this was going to be a serious mission which happened to be in another world entirely, and therefore, he was going to have to go all out and go heavy with the weaponry and firepower.

There were also spare medical kits, MREs, water canteens, power packs, TACPADs, Bubble Shields, and other units of equipment that he might need in the long run. These supplies were going to be stored in the Albatross which was going to also serve as their main source of transportation to Darnassus as he had been told by Tyrande that there was a working portal there in her people's capital city that would take him to Outland. He had informed Tyrande of the situation that occurred in Silvermoon City and his personal feelings that something major was going to happen that might have serious effects in the near future of not just Outland, but the land of Azeroth as well, and in extension Kalimdor itself as well as it's denizens.

She was more than concerned and agreed to aid him, by allowing him to go to the city and make his way to Draenor from there. And she was going to allow him to take those who were going to go with him to the lands of the Orcs. She also made sure to keep the whole situation out of the attention of a certain Arch druid who might make a heck of a ruckus the very second he saw the other races that were going to be coming though the city itself.

The Master Chief double checked everything and then turned to see Kaelyn and the other Night Elves, including the males in their group approach him. The female Sentinel was very much worried by what the Spartan was planning. When he said that he was going to the former homeland of the Orcs which was Outland, she was not happy with the idea of going to that place. The woman had heard more than her fair share of rumors of the homeland of the Orcs, and none of those said tales were the least bit helpful nor encouraging.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I do, I have a feeling in my gut that there's something serious coming this way, and I don't think it's anything good."

Kaelyn could see that the Spartan meant it as he quickly made a catalogue of his gear in a TACPAD and she turned to the others to talk to them get some idea on what they should do. They didn't know much about Outland and they had no idea what was going to happen when they got there. Going there was not something that she and any of them were sure they were ready for. Kaelyn naturally spoke first as she was the highest in terms of military rank here in the group though she would have to ask some questions to the others to see if they were all right with her decision if she decided that they should go with the Spartan.

"Do we go with him?"

Sandra was surprised and the same was said for Jarrod and the others, her long time friend was naturally the one speak out first.

"Are you sure that it's a wise idea?"

"I honestly don't know, have you ever been to Outland Sandra?"

The Hunter shook her head and replied.

"No, I haven't gone to that place, and I doubt that I ever would, I've heard my fair share of rumors about that place and I know that it is a place not even the older members of the Alliance go to unless something of great importance requires it."

Kaelyn sighed mentally at that, she had hoped that Sandra's years of traveling would have included some time in Draenor, but that seemed to be hope that was misplaced. She then directed her attention to the male Night Elves who were recently brought in by Tyrande to help them and asked them the very same question and they also shook their heads, showing that they too had no idea what to expect in Outland.

It was the same when she spoke to the others of the group that they were part of. The Dwarves had little idea of what to expect when they would go to the lands of the Orcs, Daine was thinking about this seriously with a frown on his face, while his fellow Dwarves were not too happy with the move either. Their engineer Krona was also not very happy with the idea of going to the lands of the Orcs as well, though she seemed to also be interested in getting a chance to study the possible resources in the said location. The Gnomes themselves were also not very keen on the idea of going to the former homelands of the Orcs, but they then replied to Kaelyn that if the Spartan intended to go there, then so would they.

Talia, Dana, Lyssa, and Damien however were willing to go along with the idea and they made it clear that if the Spartan intended to go into the land of the Orcs, then they were bound by their duty to go with him. She then turned her attention to the disguised female Red Dragon and see what she had in her own mind.

Marlyn could see that Kaelyn wished to know where she was on the matter and she replied.

"This is a serious matter to say the least, if the Burning Legion do plan a return, then we should do something about it quickly before they get the chance to cause more havoc, I will have to send a message to both Queen Alexstrasza and Koriasltrasz and inform them that I am coming with you. If we can stop the Legion before they set themselves up in Azeroth, then all the better for everyone in the lands."

Kaelyn sighed and it was then that Erin and her fellow Blood Elves arrived on the scene and it seemed that they were also getting everything that they could get into order. They were not alone as the others were with them, the Tauren were already present as well as the Trolls, and the Forsaken. Erin moved forward and spoke for just about everyone from the Horde representative group.

"We're coming along as well."

Kaelyn did not like that and spoke out her thoughts on the matter.

"Why would you want to do that?"

Erin replied with a heated look in her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to know why has Prince Kael'thas has done these things to us! He was supposed to help guide our people to a new future and finding a cure for our people's addiction, instead he came back with a force of our people….who have been turned into demonic versions of themselves and didn't even hesitate to kill his own people! We have to know what is going on! We need to know…if he has indeed sold our people to the Legion…so we can stop it!"

Kaelyn looked at Erin and the other Blood Elves and saw that they were all dead serious in the desire to get answers to what had just happened in their people's home city and why was it that their prince had turned on them. Cortana had already revealed to them what had happened in Silvermoon City and even she and the others were utterly stunned at what they had seen before them. She sighed and replied to their desire to go with the Spartan.

"All right then…"

It was then that the other representatives of the Horde faction arrived and they were also carrying a great deal of supplies and it was Harg who spoke for them all when he faced Kaelyn.

"We are going as well, if there is a great danger to the Horde's member race of the Blood Elves, we are bound by Horde law and tradition to help them in dealing with this situation. Besides, if the Burning Legion is behind this, then we all have a serious stake in this matter which is why we are going with them, the Legion care little for Alliance or Horde, if they succeed, we all will suffer and our lands, our people will burn, we cannot let that happen."

Kaelyn could see that they were all determined to do this and she knew that they were right, the fact that the Burning Legion was involved was also something of great concern for not just the Horde, but the Alliance as well, the Alliance was still recovering and they were still in a dispute with the Horde, so if the Burning Legion did return at this critical hour, then they would be completely caught off guard.

She turned to the Dwarves, the Gnomes, and the High Elves, she could also see that they were also not very keen on the idea of going into the former homelands of the Orcs since they had no idea what they were going to encounter there, let alone working in the field with their Horde counterparts, but they all knew the sakes if the Burning Legion were involved. They were going to do what they could and that was that. The Night Elf sighed at the situation before her and spoke.

"I guess that means we're all going to go, but we should inform our respective leaders of what is about to happen and we need to do it before we go to Darnassus, High Priestess Tyrande has already given us permission to deal with this situation and go through the portals that would take us to Draenor ."

That seemed to be the right course of action and soon each member of the Alliance and the Horde were quick to send messages of their plans to join the Spartan in Draenor in order to find out the severity of the threat that was coming their way. This meant that it was going to have to be a day at best before they would get a reply. However, there was no doubt that if the Burning Legion were indeed involved, then their leaders would want them to investigate this situation more closely.

The Night Elf Sentinel moved to see the Spartan who had just finished his work and she spoke to him in private away from the others.

"The others have sent messages to their people's leaders about what is about to happen, we're all going with you and I can bet that Lady Tyrande will send some Sentinels to hold the base here until we get back."

"You guys don't have to come with me you know."

Kaelyn however replied seriously to the Spartan.

"Yes we have to come with you, this is not just about the Blood Elves' current situation that is at stake, but the world itself. If the Burning Legion is planning to return…then we are doomed, the Alliance forces and that of the Horde are not enough to face them again the way they are now, and even if we did inflict heavy losses to them, there's no telling how many more are getting ready to attack us again. It's risky…and I have no doubt dangerous, but if we do manage to halt them, then we save our world from a powerful invasion and save countless lives. If we don't, if we ignore this…then we repeat the horrors of the past."

John saw that look of conviction he admired in Kaelyn and then replied.

"Say no more, once we get the go ahead from the leaders, we move out. Here, I know you Night Elves might dislike guns, but no sense not having a backup weapon."

John took out a modified M7S SMG that was made from Mithril and was colored black as well, he then took out a special strap on bag filled with ammunition for the said weapon and there were some 'anti-magic rounds' there as well. He also attacked a carrying strap to the weapon to allow Kaelyn to carry it on the move along with the bag.

The Night Elf was surprised by this gesture and couldn't help but feel something stir in her, this was a gift to her from the Spartan and it was something that would protect her and she was happy. However, her unease with using guns was there and she spoke to him about that.

"I…appreciate the gift, but I have no need for such a weapon, my bow is a good enough weapon for me."

John already had a reply to that.

"There's an old saying back in the UNSC, 'It's better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it'. You might not like having a gun, but better that you have it when something goes wrong than not have it when something does go wrong. Here, you'll need something to defend yourself as well in close combat, I made this before and you can have it."

John moved towards a nearby area and took out a sword, not the katana style design, but a simple Longsword made from mithril, he had it made as a viable weapon and decided that it would be best that Kaelyn had some extra protection.

The Night Elf Sentinel was amazed at this and couldn't help but feel happy that the Spartan cared enough for her safety to give her these things. She decided not to refuse them and made that clear to the Spartan as he handed her the sword that he no doubt had made himself and was giving to her as a source of protection.

"Thank you."

It didn't take long for the actions of the members of both factions to get the messages from their race's leaders. They were given the authorization to go with the Spartan to put a possible stop before the plans of the Burning Legion. This was a good sign as all the leaders from both factions were able to understand the dangers presented by the return of the Burning Legion into this land at the most unstable time.

With that done, the Spartan readied the Albatross and once he and all of those who were with him headed off to Darnassus, it was the closest one in the base's area and it would be a much better choice to go to with the time frame that they had. It was not long before they were soon in Darnassus, once the Spartan and his A.I companion landed the Albatross, they worked on moving out the supplies they had though it was going to be a while before they could get everything to the city itself.

Thankfully Tyrande had managed to put out the stops even if this was skirting the edges of her authority as High Priestess. She had requested a number of the Sentinels to help move the supplies that the Spartan had to Darnassus under heavy escort and even had some of the City Guard help with the effort.

This was something John had not expected from Tyrande and he made a mental note to speak to her about this as he was worried that she was going to attract unnecessary attention from Fandral who no doubt would love to use this chance to get under Tyrande's skin. As soon as they were in the city he made a beeline to the Temple of Elune with Kaelyn following him, but he didn't have to go very far as Tyrande was there and overseeing some matters with a high ranking Night Elf Sentinel.

Kaelyn then recognized the Night Elf Sentinel and spoke to the Spartan.

"That is General Shandris Feathermoon, one of the most recognized heroes of our people and overall commander of the Night Elf forces when High Priestess Tyrande is not in overall command."

John committed Shandris's face to his memory and saved that for another time, the way that both women spoke to one another showed respect, trust, and admiration, all of the things shown between those who were fellow soldiers and had worked together for many years and through many difficult times. And after briefly recalling his studies into Night Elf history, he recalled that Shandris had been a key figure in the first war between the Night Elves and the Burning Legion, all the way to the Third War which would explain why she was well known among the Night Elves' military wing.

She was someone worth respecting and deserved respect in kind as well, he kept that in mind and as soon as he was before the two, he waited until Tyrande and Shandris saw him. Both women smiled and walked to the Spartan and Tyrande spoke to the Spartan.

"It is good to see you here Spartan, you're arrival was expected. I have asked those Guards not on duty to help move your supplies and tools into the Portal that will take you Shattrath City."

"I appreciate the actions you took High Priestess Tyrande, but I have to admit you're skirting the edge of your authority here."

Shandris did not like that but before she could defend Tyrande the High Priestess smiled and replied.

"That might be true, but we are dealing with the Legion here, with my people still recovering and Malfurion still trapped in the Emerald Dream, I have to make tough decisions to safe guard our people and in turn, the other races as well. We must be ready for anything, but if you and the others with you can cut this down, then it will be a great blessing to all of us here. I will send word to any of our people and from the Alliance to go to Draenor at all possible speed to aid in this matter."

John nodded and replied.

"Thank you High Priestess Tyrande, this just proves even more that you are just the kind of leader your people need, your beloved will be proud of you."

Tyrande smiled warmly at that and nodded.

"Thank you, and may the blessings of Elune be with you and those who follow you Spartan."

John nodded and he went to work as he gave orders for the group to take what they could and move out through the now open portals. Tyrande looked as the assembled force of her people, people from the various races of the Alliance, and races of the Horde entered the portal…

All of them being led by a man from the stars…it seemed odd to some, yet to her, it was highly appropriate.

Shandris then spoke to the High Priestess as she looked at the force that was now moving through the portal itself.

"Are you sure of this Lady Tyrande?"

"Yes I do Shandris, the Spartan's neutral stance might be the key to helping the two forces working together. The fact that he is willing to go to Draenor despite the fact that this is a threat that can be handled by either our side or that of the Horde shows that he recognizes a true threat and is willing to work with either side even if it is for his own reasons. Even so, the others follow him into this battle, and who knows what will happen with them when they arrive there."

"But even if they do work together, do you believe they all stand a chance?"

"Maybe, who is to say, all we can do is hope that they will succeed, that is why I will pray to Elune that her grace and blessings reach them ."

…

Unknown to Tyrande…she was not the only one to be hoping for the success of John's decision to go to Outland…

In the Exodar, minutes before…

Velen opened his eyes and felt himself return to the land of the living, finally seeing clearly the vision that recently came to him. He had been feeling the arrival of visions lately and he soon was able to understand what the vision was about.

"From the stars, a vessel marked by battle and fate…

In it, a being of flesh and machine melded,

Forged for war, and a master of battle,

Defying all before him, winning against the darkest of fates, guarding life yet not being part of it.

Guided by a being of light, reason, power, she has fought dark hunger made flesh, and lived to tell of it…

She is the light to brighten the way; he is the sword and shield of life…

United in purpose, and bonded by loyalty. They are followed by a force from two sides…

Some guided by the word of law and leadership, others by personal choice to a land shattered by darkness and desire for power…

From their combined hands shall arise blades of Light both of magic and machine...

To strike down royalty immersed in hatred in life and Undeath…

To kill the hopes of the Deceiver…and cut down his power at the very core of his return…"

Velen stood up and just as he finally saw the full vision, he was informed of the Spartan's decision to go to Draenor and find out on his own what were the plans of the Prince of the Blood Elves and why was it he was allied with the Burning Legion and now a traitor to the very people he once led. The leader of the Draenei smiled and replied to the message.

"Tell them to go, the time for us to give our aid to the Spartan for this mission he has taken of his own free will."

As the leader of the Draenei readied himself for what else needed to be done in this world they now called home after fleeing Tempest Keep, he felt that the waves of change were now on the move and the best thing that his people could do was not fight it, but ride with it and grow with it as well.

…

In Shattrath City…

As soon as the Spartan, Kaelyn, and Erin stepped through the portal, they were soon followed by the others as well as a number of the Darnassus guards who were requested in the transportation of the supplies and weapons they needed in this place. The Spartan was quick to study Shattrath City and he determined that the city appeared to have been devastated by some sort of war that happened some years in the past. The scars were there to see despite the reconstruction in the place.

The location they had just arrived in looked like some sort of terrace like structure and judging by the design of the city, they were close to the center which would be the seat of government of the city itself. One thing he did notice was the apparent lack of guards in the city. That was something of a concern for the UNSC super soldier as it was not right for a city to be defenseless like this. He scanned the area and still found no trace of armed personnel to speak of, something was not right.

Cortana agreed as well with her partner and spoke.

"We'd better look around John, the lack of guards is not a good sign, either this city is under attack and they are out fighting in the field, or they have somehow been slain."

"I rather doubt it, if they were all killed, this place would have been overrun and we would not be able to come here without anyone attacking us on sight."

The Spartan took out his MA5C Assault Rifle and signaled the others to move out and look around for any clues as to why the city seemed to be deserted. But that didn't last long as they spotted a number of people in the area. John was relieved and decided to ask Jarrod to speak to one of the people there as the person in question was a male Night Elf. While this was going on, he turned to Marlyn and spoke.

"Marlyn, can you take your original form and go scout around the city and the surrounding lands to give us some idea of the layout of the land? And if you spot any force that might be hostile tell us quickly, all right?"

"Sure, I'll be right back."

Marlyn took off in a different direction and with a flash of her Dragon magic returned to her Red Dragon form and was soon in the sky of Draenor which was rather unnatural in the Spartan's eyes, though not by much as he had been to worlds with some passing similarity in his long military career. It was not long before Jarrod returned and gave his report on what he was able to learn from his fellow Night Elf.

"The guards are currently helping with the forces outside of the city, apparently Kael'thas' forces have been launching routine hit and run attacks on the city for a while now and seem to trying to lure the defenders away for a major strike. So far the defenders held them off, but they had to leave to hunt down some of the staging bases outside of the city since they got work of heavy siege weapons being brought into play."

John thought it over and could see that the plan was solid. If the attackers were able to harass the city defenders long enough to weaken them, and then launch siege attack, it would make taking the city a lot easier. Of course there was a chance that the information could be bait to lure away the defenders, make them risk leaving the city, only to have it open to attack from another angle. That was when Marlyn showed up and landed before the Spartan startling the people in the city as they had not expected the arrival of a Red Dragon into the city of all things.

"There's a large force heading towards the city, they don't seem to have heavy siege weapons, but they have a large number of soldiers, mages, warlocks, everything. I saw at least three to four hundred in that force alone They looks like a heavy assault force intent on taking the city."

"Right when it has no defenders, looks like the information about siege engines was bait after all."

The Spartan quickly turned to the group and spoke out in a tone that demanded full attention and brooked no interruptions.

"That attacking force has to be stopped and since the defenders are not here, we're going to be the ones to do it. Marlyn, how far are they from the city and how fast are they moving?"

"They appear to be at least three or six hours from the city, and they seem to be moving at a fairly fast pace, almost like they were possessed."

John mentally calculated the information with Cortana's help and knew that this was bad news indeed. While he didn't like the idea of not having all the relevant information on his new targets as well as any visual information, he had worked with far less in his career. Spartans learned to adapt and now was a very good time to do just that.

"All right then, we'll divide into two respective teams, one group will have to make a march and set up a defensive position to await the incoming force, while the other will move in from the side and catch them in a pincer formation, it's risky but if we can catch them off guard, we might be able to keep them off balance long enough for the defenders to make it back into the city and come to our aid."

Harg spoke at that.

"You want us to hold off a possible three to four hundred strong army of rogue Blood Elves with who knows what sort of demonic support by ourselves?"

Dana replied.

"Why? I thought you Orcs didn't mind a good fight?"

Harg grinned, showing his teeth as he replied.

"We love a good fight, but I have to say that by Orc standards, this is by far the most reckless and hastily conceived plan ever…I like it! What do you have in mind Spartan?"

John quickly went through the ground work and requested that those who were skilled in close combat to take up defensive positions to let the enemy come to them, this way they would not waste their energy in chasing the enemy. It would be too risky for their force to engage the enemy in open combat since the enemy had the advantage when it came to numbers and attacking head on was suicide. Normally Spartans like him took on suicide missions when it came to that, but this was a different kettle of fish so he had to do things differently. Once he was done with that part he made sure to have the other specialists in the group be ready.

John quickly reached one of the crates and punched in the code to open it, the magnetic seals turned off as he gave the proper code and he took out a pair of the new Battle Rifles, he got out several packs of rounds for the said rifles, both normal and 'anti-magic rounds' and gave them to Daine and Hagin. Both the marksmen were quick to take a liking to the rifles and John quickly showed them how to work the weapons as well as a quick loading and reloading weapon. Once that was done and the two marksmen were able to the actions and procedures well, he gave them his orders.

"The two of you are going to be the long range marksmen alongside those of the group with skills in archery and long range combat. Provide long range support for the others and make sure to take targets of opportunity."

"Targets of what?"

"Take out their officers, healers, magical support, those targets of opportunity, and one more thing. No Friendly Fire that simply means don't shoot those in the allied group no matter your inclinations."

The two marksmen were quick to pick up the meaning of that warning, they were not to shoot at the Horde representatives who were with them on this mission. Hagin was all right with that, though Daine didn't quite like it. John was quick to pick up on the dwarf's discontent and replied seriously.

"Those bullets happen to have special markings on them once they leave the weapons, this way if anyone from the winds up with bullet wounds, I can find out who fired at them. So as much as you dislike it, shoot the enemy Blood Elves who appear and not the Horde forces, understand me Daine?"

The Dwarf grunted but nodded at that.

"I get you lad, don't worry, the only targets getting shot today will be the enemy."

John then directed his attention to the magic users of the group, namely those with healing powers and support magic.

"I don't need to explain what I want from you all since your abilities speak for themselves, but all the same, keep out of the fight and use your powers to support the others unless you are attacked and make sure that you don't use up too much of your magic which will leave you drained and incapacitated, understand?"

The groups from the Alliance and the Horde nodded in understanding and John also decided to further elaborate the plan of attack as he directed the rest in skirmish formations and also on how to use whatever they had on hand to win the battles they were going to be in with the force that Marlyn had spotted approaching the city from another attack angle. He then turned to the Red Dragon and spoke seriously to her as he knew that her abilities made her unique among the party in terms of overall offensive power.

"Marlyn, can you use your fire breath to attack the Blood Elf forces from the air?"

The Red Dragon nodded while in her true form.

"I can, but that would mean I would have to get lower in to attack them, I personally don't look forward to that, but I am ready for this action if you want me to."

The Spartan nodded as he understood that as Guardians of Life, Red Dragons, as far as he understood of their culture, abhor taking life unless they have to or the targets are from the identified evil races to begin with. He then reached into another crate and opened it, he took out communication units that were able to work at a full three to four mile radius, these would be invaluable in this operation for obvious coordination and command reasons. Once he had them all, he distributed them and explained their functions with exceptions to Erin, Kaelyn, Sandra, Dana and Jarrod as they already knew how they worked as they had used them before.

Once that was done and the communicators were tested and were able to work with all members of the group, he took everything into account and planned out their ambush of the approaching Blood Elf force. It was not the best of plans, but it was far better than nothing. With that done, everyone moved out, John hoped to himself that this was going to work soon, he was betting a lot on this mission already, even though he still had some level of work about how this might turn out. Speed was critical and when they got there, they were going to have to make sure that once their enemies were in range, they had no chance of escape.

…

In lands beyond the city of Shattrath…

The Blood Elves who were on the move were eager to finally put the city under their command, it's strategic location and resources would prove critical to the war-effort that they were undertaking…and to the plans of the Prince…officially they were under orders from Illidan to take the city once and for all to cement his control of Draenor completely. In reality, they were under orders from Prince Kael'thas to secure the city…and take the Naaru there, even with the one they had taken back from their kindred back in Silvermoon City, there was no sense in not having a spare to fall back on. However, there was another matter that they had to deal with, and that was to deal with those who dared to turn their backs to the Sunstrider Family and serve the very enemies they had been sent to destroy. Once they took the city they were going to make sure that the traitors were going to be executed in the most painful way possible for their betrayal.

There was much going on and soon, their leader and their new master were going break free of that half night elf mongrel and they were going to truly bring forth the destiny of the Blood Elves. They all were eager to finally strike the now defenseless city. However, they were going to be in for a surprise as a sudden bright red beam smashed into a number of them and a massive explosion engulfed the ones hit by the beam itself and they were killed easily.

That was soon followed by the sounds of what appeared to be gunfire and flying arrows on two sides and soon the advancing force found itself caught in a crossfire as three more of their officer were suddenly blown to bits by the massive red beam that came out of nowhere.

"Targets eliminated, moving to secondary firing position."

John carried the Spartan Laser and moved to a nearby rock wall to get cover and get enough defense to aim the weapon at the next target. John usually preferred to travel light in battle, but this was the kind of situation where firepower won over speed. He aims the weapon once more at the Blood Elves, aiming this time for a collection of Mages, judging from their robes and soon the red beam of the Spartan laser reduces them to nothing but a fine red mist.

The others were quick to provide fire as Daine and Hagin unleashed their weapons fire while Kaelyn, Sandra, Tannis and the others with skills with ranged weapons and magic continued to rain havoc on the ranks of the Blood Elves. John then placed the Spartan Laser aside and moved to a nearby area to retrieve a case he had left behind and took out a Mark II Sniper Rifle and began to fire the massive weapon, unleashing roars into the valley.

He and the others unleashing bullets, arrows and blasts of magic were soon joined by a massive roar that further shocked the Blood Elves as Marlyn came out from the sky and unleashed a wave of flame over them while moving quickly through their forces from above. Kaelyn and the others were unleashing more of their arrows into the Blood Elves, cutting down more of them in the fight as the Blood Elves were still reeling from the sudden attack itself. John was quick to capitalize on their disarray as he quickly ordered his two teams to move forward into a more defensive position while supporting the other.

Marlyn came once more from the sky, only this time from an angle behind the Blood Elves and unleashed a blast of fireballs, those streaked down like missiles and was soon followed by gouts of flame to really make the situation more chaotic. The Blood Elves managed to recover well enough despite the attacks that had just reduced their numbers to at least three hundred. They were quickly able to use their magic to locate the origin of some of the attacks that caught them off guard and soon they were unleashing attacks on it. While the fireballs, ice blasts, and lightning bolts as well as Shadow Magic based attacks seemed to be a wave, they were used to suppress the attackers for them to move closer and finish them off.

John knew that and quickly ordered Harg and the others he had designated for close combat work to get ready for an incoming attack, The Orc member of the Kor'kron Guard replied in Orcish, eager for the chance to finally close in the gap and face the enemy. John guided them to areas where the Blood Elves were heading while he continued to unleash more blasts from the Sniper Rifle along with attacks from both Hagin and Daine who were already getting a good number of kills with their Battle Rifles.

It was not long before they had the mages and warlocks of the Blood Elves hiding and ducking for cover as the rest of their forces closed in. John moved to use his Spartan Laser to further weaken the incoming attack force. The Spartan got out three more shots before he was warned by Cortana that the weapon was now out of charges and he had to leave it to be picked up later, he reverted to the Sniper Rifle and quickly gave Harg and the others the all clear to attack while he gave the rest the order to engage at will. Their attacks had withered the four hundred strong force to nothing more a hundred and fifty, which in hindsight were more manageable number.

John moved down the rock face not minding the drop and fired a blast in mid drop from the Sniper Rifle that took down two Blood Elves and as soon as he landed he turned fired another round that tore into another trying to move in on him. He was quickly made aware of an incoming attacker and quickly side stepped it, and was a bit surprised to see a Blood Elf with two swords moving in, no doubt he used some potion or was assisted with magic to make him move fast enough to close in on him . The Elf grinned manically, thinking that he had the advantage, he was proven wrong as the Spartan quickly reversed the Sniper Rifle and introduced the hard butt of the weapon into his face sending reeling back hitting the land with his neck at a bad angle showing that his neck was broken.

The Spartan quickly placed his Sniper Rifle aside and used his MA5C Mark II Assault Rifle to cut down three more Blood Elves charging at him he turned and spotted two preparing to fire lightning bolts at him but they were suddenly hit by two arrows each one in the chest and the other in the throat killing them. He turned to see that both Kaelyn and Sandra were smiling at him while loading new arrows.

He barely had time to react when he heard several clashes of steel behind him and looked to see Erin and Janna blocking some of their own kindred from attacking him from behind. The Rogue/Mage used her magic to unleash a powerful flash of light that blinded her foe, allowing her to kill the female warrior in combat, and Janna used her shield like a battering ram, and then moving it aside to allow her to strike with a following up stroke to kill her own foe.

Both Blood Elves gave him a nod though Erin was smiling warmly, silently stating that she had paid him back for protecting her like before. John managed to put that aside and thankfully Cortana knew that they were in a battle so she didn't distract him, though he could feel her amusement over the whole situation.

John also checked the progress of the others under his command, Harg and his fellow Orcs were busy fighting with the Blood Elves and they were seemingly doing all right as the Kor'kron Guard member was able to lead his fellow Orcs well while speaking in Orcish as he cut down several more of the Blood Elves. Thoral and his fellow Tauren were doing well on their own as they used their magical powers, raw strength and weapons to even up the odds against their foes.

The same could be said for Ruskhain and his fellow Trolls as they were able to hold their own with the use of Voodoo healing magic to keep them in the fight for as long as possible. The two Forsaken were also doing their part as they fought the Blood Elves, though the Spartan could see that Alicia was not happy with that was happening before her as she continued to fight while her partner supported her with his magic while defending himself from attacks.

He also checked on the Alliance group, Daine and Hagin were supporting their fellow Dwarves and Gnomes with the Battle Rifles and their own weapons when needed, the two Gnomish Rogues were able to use their size and agility to surprise their foes quickly and effectively cut them down while they were supported by their female counterpart. The Dwarves were mixing it up easily on their own with their heavy armor and their weapons so they were able to do well on their own. The Humans were already doing well on their own as Lyssa unleashed a great deal of magical projectiles as well as summoning a Water Elemental to defend both her and Talia while Dana helped them while Matthias unleashed his Fel Energy bolts and used his Minion, a massive dog like pet to defend him from retaliation.

The Draenei were able to hold their own as well with the Paladins using holy magic when needed and smashing down their weapons on their foes. Once they were done, the others of their race would use their own magic to heal and attack as well as their own weapons. They were also followed by the other Night Elves were able to hold their own as Jarrod and his female Druid companion unleashed their nature magic into the fight while Kaylai and Keina ere able to fight as one with the warden teleporting in and out, cutting with her moon sword and unleashing her throwing knives while the Demon Hunter cut and slashed with minimal effort and skill in battle.

In this stage, the enemy force found themselves cut down to a lower number when they started and it was brought lower then Marlyn came back into the scene and unleashed several more fireballs to hit the Blood Elves and then she turned into her human form to fight with both her swords at the ready. Despite realizing that they were facing one of Alexstrasza' flight, the Blood Elves didn't seem to care as they continued to attack despite the fact that their once large force of four hundred had been cut down considerably as the Spartan continued to coordinate the attacks of the two groups.

He then spoke to Marlyn as he fought his way to her.

"Go back to Shattrath City and if the Guards are there as well as their standing forces, have them come here quickly, we might need some backup soon."

Marlyn didn't argue and quickly moved away and transformed back to her Dragon Form and took off to Shattrath City to find if the guards and the city's military were already back, while the others were busy fighting the foes before them all.

…

That was when John looked to see Erin, Sandra, Janna, and Kaelyn who were currently fighting with a large band of rogue Blood Elves that he spotted a mage casting a spell at the four women group, he quickly aimed his Mark II Sniper Rifle and fired one massive bullet that the magic user. The results were enough as the Blood Elf was now sporting a bloody grapefruit seized hole where his chest was as the bullet tore right through him. However the spell was cast. He had no idea what that spell was but he doubted that it would have been good.

It was then that John spotted two more Blood Elf Mages aiming powerful fireball spells at the four women, no doubt intent on killing all four of them in a combined blast. And there was no doubt that it would kill or critically injure the four women and leave them open to counter attack

John realized that there was only enough time to reach them and he had no Bubble Shield with him, so he had to make a decision to save the four women from being killed, and he knew this was going to hurt. He rushed quickly, dropping his Mark II Sniper Rifle, and re-routing his MJOLNIR's shield energy to the front of his body to full power. This action had compromised his shields in the back, but thickened the shields in the front of his body, that was all he needed as he had already placed his MA5C Mark II Assault Rifle on his back.

The four turned and spotted the fireballs heading right for them as they realized that they were in serious trouble. They tried to move away to escape, but they couldn't make their bodies move at all, no doubt they were being held in place by some sort of spell. The four women could only look in horror as the fireballs came towards them , magical fusing into one massive mass of flame and death. However, it was then that the four of them spotted the Spartan appear right in front of them and…

BOOM!

The explosion deafened the women and the flash of fire blinded them briefly and they were thankfully still alive, but that was when they spotted a flying form move past between the four of them and hit the ground fast and hard.

Kaelyn , Sandra, Erin, and Janna were stunned as they looked at the Spartan who had managed to defend them from the attack, at the cost of being hit by the combined fireball that had been aimed at them and sent flying back and hitting the ground hard. They looked at the man as he tried to stand up after hitting the ground but he was undeniably in pain from the attack even if they couldn't see it in his face as smoke rose from his armor and sparks of golden energy were over his form.

In that moment, the two Night Elves felt white hot rage fill them at the attack and the same could be said for Erin and even Janna. The four of them directed their attention to the Blood Elf Mages who had attacked the Spartan with their combined attacks. Kaelyn and Sandra wasted no time and unleashed several of their arrows right at the Mages and their forces, several of the arrows killed the Blood Elf warriors that tried to block the Mages from harm, but they were soon engaged by both Erin and Janna.

The two Blood Elves were utterly angered by what happened to the man who had nearly gotten himself killed saving them and even though they were spilling the blood of their own kindred, they were not going to change at all. They saw in the eyes of the attacking Blood Elves that they were no longer their kin, but willing servants of the Burning Legion and Illidan. Erin buried her swords into the stomach of a male warrior while Janna cut down another warrior before her.

They were soon joined by both Sandra and Kaelyn who were still unleashing arrow after arrow at their foes, the Night Elves were filled with anger as they unleashed their wrath on the Blood Elves who have attacked the Spartan with their arcane magic. The two of them were going to make sure that those who hurt the man were going to pay dearly for it.

John groaned as he felt his body in a whirl of pain, but that disappeared as he felt his MJOLNIR"s Bio-foam dispensers finished loading his body with the Bio-foam as he quickly assessed his injuries.

(Several Third Degree Burns, injured muscle tendon in the chest, cracked left rib…nothing too serious.)

It was then that Cortana spoke to him, her voice very much in a state of utter worry for him.

"John! Are you all right?"

"Yeah, give me a second."

John quickly took a lot at the BIOS of the MJOLNIR Mark VI and was happy that the Armor was in good hands and was already back to full recovery, it's systems were not compromised and Cortana was in good hands as well. He got his MA5C Mark II Assault Rifle from the ground and the Spartan got up to his feet and spotted a pair of Blood Elves about to attack the four women he had saved earlier with spells like before.

Despite the injuries that he had before, the Spartan quickly got himself back into the fight and shredded the two Mages and quickly moved to the others. However, he didn't have to move that far as the four Elven women had finished the battle before them as the two Mages were now dead before them. The four of them turned to see the Spartan standing before them and apparently he had recovered fully from the attack that was thrown at him. The relief in their faces was like beacons and they were soon joined by the others.

Harg was there and his mouth was slightly open as he looked at the Spartan who seemed to be fine despite him taking blows from not one but two fire balls at once. He had tried to help but found himself being attacked by a group of Blood Elves and he had to fight them. Once he was done fighting them off, he directed his attention to the others and they were all able to rally together with their Alliance counterparts. The young Orc was the first to speak to the Spartan.

"By the ancestors, you managed to survive that attack…how is that possible?"

The Spartan however directed his attention to the sudden arrival of more of the Blood Elves who were heading to the city of the Draenei. He counted them as he zoomed in to see their numbers and spoke out to his group.

"We don't have time for that, we've got more of the forces of Prince Kael'thas coming in fast and hard."

He began to move but that was when Thoral spoke gently.

"No Spartan, you should rest, we can handle it here."

The Spartan looked at the Tauren Druid and while he knew that Thoral meant well, he was not the kind of guy to take things lying down, he was able to move, fight, think, and command well enough so no bed rest for him, besides he felt no pain as of yet from his injuries due to the Bio-foam in his body. Not only that, he had a healing rate that was a lot stronger than regular humans due to his augmentations.

"I'm fine, I can still move and fight, so I don't have the time to rest."

Thoral could see that no amount of words from him were not going to convince the Spartan otherwise and nodded as he spoke.

"Very well Spartan, if that is what you wish, then so be it."

The others decided to get back into the whole battle before them as they turned to face the incoming force of Blood Elves as John moved forward and readied his Mark II Assault Rifle. However as they got ready for another serious battle with the forces heading their way, the attacking Blood Elves stopped in their attacks and were now in full retreat.

Talia spoke as she panted after using a good deal of her mana to heal the others who were recovering from the battle.

"W-Why are they retreating?"

One of the male Draenei Paladins turned and pointed to Shattrath City as a massive force of the city's defenders were coming in. the forces that came into play were a large number of Draenei and a force of Blood Elves along with a man who was human who wore the same robes that one associated with mages or Archmages. That was more than enough to tell the Spartan and those of his group the exact reason why the attacking forces decided to break off the attack and head back to their base of operations. Marlyn appeared and transformed back into disguise human form and was now among them.

John sighed and moved towards the incoming force that were coming in their direction, he knew that they were not the enemy, but he was still as cautious as ever. A female Draenei wearing heavy plate armor and carrying the same kind of crystal hammer that Darin wielded walked up to them and spoke seriously.

"Who are you people?"

John replied to that as he focused his attention on the female as he could see some elaborate marks on her armor which he was quick to see was a military rank, no doubt she was head of the force of defenders before them.

"We came from the land of Kalimdor and passed here through the Portal located in Darnassus."

The female Draenei officer looked at the group and tried to find any possible lie there in the words of this…human. She also had to admit that looking at the force next to the man, she was very confused as to why there were members from the various races that made up both the Alliance and the Horde and why were they working together. She gave the two Forsaken a dark look, and the same could be said for the Orcs and the Blood Elves, though hardly made any dark intentions towards the Tauren and the Trolls.

A moment later, she spoke once more.

"How can I be sure that you speak the truth?"

Darin then stepped forward and spoke to is fellow Draenei.

"Sister, they do speak truth, they do not come here as foes and they have helped defend the city."

The female Draenei looked at Darin and to the Archmage, who seemed to be a high ranking resident in the city and he nodded in approval. The Draenei officer sighed and replied..

"Fair enough, you can come into the city and rest, but you will all be under guard while we send word to Prophet Velen if you were expected to arrive and to A'dal as well. And I will speak to the others in the city to determine what to do with you all."

As soon as she was done, the female Draenei officer made several hand gestures and spoke to her fellow Draenei and since John had been able to make the translation program for the Draenei language, he was able to understand more of the language, the only problem was, the program was incomplete and therefore it was not much, thankfully Darin and the rest of her Draenei companions were able to understand and they were soon moving out back into the lands of Shattrath City.

While they were on the move, the human who was wearing the robes of the Archmage looked at the assembled group of races from the Alliance and the Horde and also to the armored human who was their apparent leader. He rubbed his beard and wondered just what was he going to do with this new situation before him. However, he gave a smile as he looked at the collection of Tauren, Forsaken, Orcs, Trolls, Blood elves, Humans, Night Elves, High Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves and Draenei.

He had just seen something that was not normally seen between the Alliance and the Horde unless in dire situations…

Cooperation...

Khadgar wondered just what was going on here and who this human was, maybe a chat with A'dal might shed some light on this new arrival to Shattrath City. For now however, they had to figure out what was Kael'thas' next move on the city as well as Illidan's own plans. He had no doubt that in his fortress of the Black Temple, the former Night Elf Demon Hunter would be brooding over many things once more and as soon as his plans have been thwarted, he would be enraged by this a great deal.

Of course it was not just Illidan and Kael'thas that he and the others here in Shattrath had to deal with, the Burning Legion was still here, hungering to take what they can to continue their Burning Crusade and while there was no evidence to speak of, he had a feeling that someone in this world was now an ally of the Legion, he doubted that it was the former Demon Hunter so it was still up for debate on who this new ally of the Legion was.

…

In Shattrath City…

John removed his helmet and began to slowly remove his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor slowly, his wounds had healed well enough but the others of his group requested that he be healed and in order to avoid causing any more complaints to his group, he decided to get some treatment. As the Spartan removed his armor while in one of the rooms in the city, he took a deep breath of the air in Draenor and frowned as he tasted something utterly alien in the air itself, it was hardly fatal, but it was still sending a shiver of unease through his body. The others were currently in other rooms as the Naaru leader of the city spoke that they were welcome here and they would be called upon for a meeting, John decided to have the others retrieve the Spartan Laser and his Sniper Rifle as well, he was not keen on leaving those things behind for anyone who he didn't know or trust get their hands on them.

John had no idea just what was going on and why was it that the leader of the city seemed to be rather open in allowing them into the city it controlled. This kind of hospitality, while welcome to some people, made John rather wary as to why the Naaru was welcoming them so easily. He had learned all that he needed about the Naaru from his Draenei companions and Cortana had spent most of the time trying to find out what she would be able to record about the Naaru in question.

As soon as he was finally bare of his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor and only wearing his pants and boots, with the military issue grey shirt he normally wore underneath the MJOLNIR, he waited for the healer to show up, and he didn't have to wait for too long as Talia came into the room. He was somewhat surprised why it was only Talia and decided to ask her just where the others were.

"Where are the others right now?"

The Priestess replied.

"They happen to be moving out the supplies we have, not to mention keeping them in storage and safe, Kaelyn spoke to the others to keep an eye on the supplies and make sure that they were not lost since there is indeed no telling just how long we are going to be here."

The Spartan raised his eyebrow at that as he had not expected Kaelyn to take serious charge on the whole situation and he couldn't help but mentally smile at that and decided to chat with the Night Elf Sentinel at a much later date.

"I see, well then, let's get this over and done with."

The dark skinned woman nodded and she began to use her powers of the Holy Light to heal the Spartan , the Master Chief then felt the injuries in his body began to heal, and he took his time to relax, however, it was then that he noticed the wide eyes of the Priestess as she looked at him. As soon as the magic healing was done, she spoke out her amazement.

"Remarkable, I know that healing magic derived from the Holy Light is powerful, but I have never seen anyone heal as fast as you."

John shrugged and replied.

"I'm a fast healer."

Talia nodded as she still was trying to get used to seeing the way the Spartan's body reacted to the healing magic she had just used on his body. Once she was sure that her eyes and senses were not deceiving her, she moved out to give the good news to the others who were naturally waiting on word of the Spartan's condition. Once he was alone, he checked his wounds himself and found them to be fully healed. With that done, he decided to get on his shirt, he however decided not to wear his MJOLNIR for the moment as he would have to make a full inspection of it to make sure that there was no residual damage to his form. Once he was done with his inspection of his own form, he decided to go out and explore the city in more detail.

He didn't need to worry about the MJOLNIR as it required his Spartan Neural Interface to activate the systems in the Powered Assault Armor and it was only made for his size to begin with so he hardly had to worry about it for now. However, he planned to return soon enough to it to make sure that other people didn't become too nosey for their own good.

Once he was outside, he was greeted by Sandra who apparently had been on her way there, the Night Elf Hunter smiled in relief at the sight of him and without any hesitation on her part, moved up and kissed the Spartan right on the cheek. That caught John completely by surprise though he hardly showed such an emotion on his face and he looked at the smiling Night Elf as she spoke.

"Good to see you up and about Spartan, Talia said you were fully recovered and it seems she was right."

John raised an eyebrow at that and recalled that Sandra was a lot more forward than her fellow Night Elves due to her longer experience in the outside world and beyond the borders of Kalimdor. However, being kissed in public was a very new thing for the Spartan and it was a bit unsettling as some of the residents of the city were actually chuckling and looking at him.

He placed that aside and the two of them moved to where the others were, they had repurposed an old storehouse that was still intact as a place to store the supplies the Spartan had brought with them on this mission and while they were walking there, Sandra spoke to the Spartan.

"I am sorry if that kiss might have surprised you, but you did save my life after all and it was the first thing I could think of to thank you for what you did."

"It was not a problem, I saw through my helmet's scanners that some sort of energy was holding you four in place."

Sandra nodded and explained.

"Somehow one of the mages had cast a magic trap in front of us and when we stepped into it, it triggered and held us in place, we were unable to move so they could target us specifically. But thanks to you, they failed."

John said nothing as they walked together and Sandra then spoke once more in a slightly lower tone.

"I have to be honest….this world…I feel something….foul in the air, not here in the city, but outside of it. It feel wrong…really wrong."

John looked at Sandra and saw the worry and fear in her face, he decided to do something that would at least calm her down, as he himself felt something was wrong in this world, it had little do with magical senses as he had none himself, but it was deep in his gut and his gut never lied to him yet. He reached out and held her hand gently, keeping his strength to a controlled minimum as he might crush her hand.

Sandra felt him hold her hand in a silent gesture and she smiled even more at him and squeezed his hand back in acceptance as they made their way to the location where the others were. As soon as they arrived, they were met by Kaelyn, Erin, and Janna, the three were happy to see him safe though they were a bit confused as to why he was out of his Armor. But they placed that aside as seeing the man safe was more than enough for them.

The other members of the group were also relieved, Marlyn commented that she too was happy that he was able to avoid getting too badly injured and that he was recovering well. Harg and his fellow Orcs also commented on the fact that he had risked his life to save others, a noble thing to see in many respects, and the fact that he was willing to stand and fight even after all that was a sign of strength and valor, they respected that very much. Thoral and the other Tauren shared the same sentiment and so did Ruskhain and the other Trolls. Alicia was also impressed though

As for the Alliance members, they too were happy to see that he had managed to survive that combined attack on his person. Dana, Talia, and Lyssa were happy to see him alive while Matthias was warm at best as he had just been busy taking care of some of his own private affairs though under the watch of the others the whole time. Hagin and his fellow Gnomes were also pleased and showed eagerness to find out just how his MJOLNIR protected him from the attack that hit him hard and fast. The Dwarves were in the same boat as well and the Draenei members were also happy to see that he lived.

The ones who were the most pleased with his survival however were the women he had shielded though Janna was not as open as Kaelyn, Sandra, and Erin. The Blood Elf Rogue/Mage was very happy to see him alive and hugged him quickly not caring for the glares directed at her by Kaelyn and Sandra. After he moved away, Kaelyn, despite her desire not to do something foolish in front of anyone moved in and hugged the Spartan, whispering her thanks and relief that he was alive.

John had no idea how to react to that but he decided to let it slide for now, though he could bet that once Cortana found out about this, she was going to have a field day with it, and he didn't have any problems picturing her amused face when she spoke to him. As soon as that was out of the way, he saw that his group were all right, their injuries already treated, he then made his way into the warehouse to check the gear and inventory the whole arsenal and the supplies he had on hand.

Thankfully the supplies and weapons had not been tampered with and so far, the security in the place was not too bad. He double checked everything and soon locked the place down and decided to head back to the place he was staying in to wear his MJOLNIR once more. Only this time around he was not alone as the others followed him like a defense detail, which was somewhat ridiculous in his mind but he hardly bothered with it.

Once he got back and managed to get the MJOLNIR on once more, he came out to find the same Draenei female officer with a small number of other heavily armed and armored Draenei with her, and surprisingly enough, a number of Blood Elves who were different markings on them. He wondered who they were but it seemed that the investigations would have to wait for a better time as it was now time to meet the leaders of this city.

…

As John and the others were heading to the place where the Naaru waited for them, they were unaware that the prophecy spoken by Velen about him, along with his A.I companion was now received by the Naaru in the city itself and it would reveal this prophecy to the ones who were connected by it after offering another core prophecy with a certain Blood Elf leader who had just arrived into the city itself.

…

In the room where the Naaru was…

A'dal glowed and soon, those who were in the room turned when the doors opened as the guards there in the chamber looked in that direction, along with Lady Liadrin and General Tiras'alan, along with the leader of the Sons of Lothar forces, Khadgar. They turned and soon enough, the Spartan appeared with his group. The leader of the Blood Elves was very much surprised to see the armored man who was assigned to be watched by one of her Blood Knights, and that said Blood Knight was with the man as well, she had seen the man himself

"Spartan…what in the name of the Sunwell are you doing here?"

John was surprised at the arrival of Lady Liadrin; he had only met the leader of the Blood Knights when he had been to Silvermoon City under Erin's request and when he had helped with the discovery of Kael'thas' plan to take the Naaru from them when the city had been infiltrated by the Prince and those transformed Blood Elves under his personal command. He had no idea what she was doing here of all places, but it must be of great importance for her to be here instead of helping with the mess in Silvermoon at the moment.

"I could ask you the same question Lady Liadrin."

It was then that the Naaru spoke out to the gathered force, though it seemed that the Spartan was the focus of the conversation this time around.

"So, you are the Spartan, a human from beyond the stars itself, you're arrival here was expected."

That was enough to make the Spartan stop dead in his tracks as he looked at the Naaru, he scanned it and was surprised to find that it's power levels were remarkably high, so high in fact that he was briefly worried that he might fry the scanner system by continuing to look at the Naaru even more. Cortana was naturally more than ready to comment about what they were both looking at right now.

"That thing's giving off a LOT of power, it's amazing, the energy is equal to at least a Covenant Space Station's power reactor. And it's alive too…this in very interesting."

A'dal then threw another surprise into the whole mix as it spoke once more.

"And I sense that you're A.I companion is in your armor as well, good she will be vital to fulfill the prophecy that you both shall play a part in."

That statement confused the Spartan and Cortana at the same time, John had no idea what was going on before him but he was not going to stand by and do nothing. He was going to get the answers he needed, one way or the other as he spoke.

"Prophecy? What sort of nonsense are you spouting out?"

The people there in the chamber were surprised and General Tiras'alan naturally stepped forward with his sword drawn and spoke out.

"Show respect to A'dal human!"

The Naaru however spoke gently at this point, no doubt to calm the Draenei general who was the head of the defense force in the city itself. A'dal understood the General's reaction, but Velen had passed this prophecy to him before the arrival of the Blood Elves to this place and as such, he was going to play his own role in this world of Outland.

"Calm yourself general, his question is a valid one, considering that he is from a branch of humanity that has embraced the ways of technology and not magic. But he does have a part to play in this world, even if he is not part of it."

The Draenei in armor looked at the Naaru and moved away and as soon as that was over, A'dal spoke once more to the Spartan.

"You wish to know why I know of you Spartan? My kind who you now know as the Naaru have traveled paths in the great beyond and have met many beings before. Through these meetings, we have learned much of other worlds and even at times, our beings far beyond the stars and galaxies. And in one of our journeys, we have met a race leaving a galaxy behind, leaving their technology, their power, their legacy, for those they have marked as their inheritors, I believe that you and you're A.I companion know them as the Forerunners."

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, power outages are a pain in the ass, not to mention the fact that I have gotten the chance to finally play Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty. Loved the game and enjoyed the campaign missions a great deal. Not to mention I got to play an old classic, Knights and Merchants as well, along with other real life issues such as passing my school papers for application for the Masters Course. Hopefully you all can understand my situation and cut me some slack on matters like this once.

Maybe I should try my hand in making a Starcraft story for the sake of expanding my horizons a bit more…there's a thought, but I believe that it can wait for a better time. I think that the work is not too bad, but I think the various situation I am in might have affected my work. If that is the case, please feel free to point out any errors and corrections okay?

Well, this is the end for this story for now, I am now going to direct my attention to the other stories that I have already been working on and I might also post some short stories to get my eye in and get back on the horse, so to speak when I go to working on the stories I had put on ice before.

At any rate, I hope that this chapter, despite being rather long, is good for all the readers involved and if there are complaints, suggestions for improvement, corrections, and all the usual stuff, then you all know the drill on how to send them my way.

Okay, the swimsuit magazine stuff might be a bit much, but it's there now and I happen to like it, so it's staying. But I have made the choice to add the movie night thing and also have some music being played by Cortana just for the fun of it, and also because the two things were requested by Laser Crusader for the sake of adding some extra spice to the story so here it is.

And now we have a Red Dragon in the mix, a female Red Dragon who is also from the poll and will soon play a key role in the rest of the plot in the coming stories though I changed her name a bit to suit the way Dragons name themselves in terms of male and female to lessen the sense of confusion.

I have plans to have different members of the group of the Master Chief to go on several situations that will allow him to know them better as well as develop a rapport with each of them. This will also help in the long run when we get to the other arcs in the story itself.

…

And if anyone asks if John will get frisky with said female Red Dragon as some point in time, well, that is going to have to be considered carefully since it's really going to be one heck of a challenge to do.

…

Now that the Master Chief and company are in the world of Draenor, the arc will officially start and you can bet that things will be very interesting, we will be following the path of the Burning Crusade quests that John will be part of, but considering the things the Chief has on his arsenal, things are going to be different and you can bet that as soon as they launch the attack on Tempest Keep, we're going to have a match between the mad Prince and the Spartan.

And what's this…the Naaru have met the Forerunners before?

Does that mean that the Naaru had something to do with the events after Halo 3?

I won't answer that just yet, you'll have to find out on the

…

Here's a taste of what to expect in the coming chapter on what the Naaru will give to the Spartan.

…

Kael'thas raged as he unleashed bolt after bolt of Fel magic at the Spartan who continued to evade his attacks and using the area of his own room as a defense. The Blood Mage then spoke out as the Spartan hid behind another pillar, ignoring the wounds that he had on his body that were inflicted on him by the Spartan.

"You can't stop me human! I will save my people, and our new master shall arrive and aid us in rightfully reclaiming what is ours!"

John looked at his Mark II Assault Rifle and saw that he had few rounds left and his M6G didn't have enough rounds as well, he knew that he had to strike down the mad Blood Elf Prince now before things got really bad. However, he decided to try and reason with the madman, he knew already the history of Kael's people and could understand his motives, but he certainly did not approve of his plans.

"You want to bring that demon to Azeroth? What makes you think he will listen to you?"

"I have pledged myself to serve him and he shall reward my people well, and through him, we will finally free ourselves of our addiction."

"By drinking demon blood and in turn, become demons yourselves? That's nothing more than pure madness Prince Kael'thas, you're not saving your people, your damning them to a fate worse than death."

"What would you know human? You are not of this world and you have no right to judge me or my plans!"

John moved quickly when Cortana warned him of an incoming attack and the pillar he was behind was blasted by a fireball, he moved and unleashed several rounds from his Assault Rifle, the anti-magic rounds slicing through the magical barrier that Kael had erected around himself and as soon as he was in cover, he checked his weapons and knew that time was running out, he had to strike fast and hard once he got an opening to take down the now mad prince.

"So you're willing to sell your people to the Legion to save them, knowing full well what the price of your decision will be?"

"That is not your concern, soon the Master will come and all of the lands taken from the Blood Elves will be in our hands once more. And all those who dared to harm us will die!"

"Even those who had nothing to do with the events that doomed your people?"

"ALL will feel the wrath of the Blood Elves, the Orcs will pay for their attacks long ago, the Alliance will pay for abandoning us to the Scourge and treating us like dirt…and that bastard Arthas will die once and for all!"

John saw that he had no other choice in dealing with the mad prince, and he had to help the others who were still out there fighting with the forces that Kael'thas had with him, he had to hurry, the forces needed help and they needed it now. With that in mind, he then placed his Assault Rifle on his back and took out his new enhanced Covenant Plasma swords and got out of his hiding place to face Kael'thas.

The Prince smirked in a very mad way and spoke out to the Spartan.

"Fool! Now you will die!"

John placed the handles of the weapons before his chest and replied in a serious voice.

"Not today."

As he said it, the blades of the enhanced Plasma Swords came online, but instead of the old blue whitish color of plasma, this color was now gold with silver laced into it as it glowed with pure energy, but not just plasma energy, this did not escape the notice of Kael'thas as he spoke.

"What the hell is that?"

John snorted and charged in, no longer cutting back on his full power like before as he moved quickly towards Kael'thas, not giving the mad prince a chance to cast magic. He leaped up at high speed with both golden blades at the ready and replied in mid leap as one energy sword was poised to cut Kael'thas clean in half.

"The Naaru send you their regards… and I intend to deliver it!"

…

How was that for a trailer for what is to come?

See you all soon in my other worlds as I now put this story in ice…


	19. Chapter 19

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to either Blizzard or Bungie.

Chapter 11

Part 1

Revelations and missions…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the chamber…

John looked at A'dal with a great deal of intent as he was trying to figure out just how this energy being of utterly unknown origin knew of not just him but of the Forerunners as well. He and Cortana were still there, surrounded by the residents of Shattrath City and also by those who worked with them in their base, and now he wanted to figure out how they knew about the Forerunners.

"How do you know the Forerunners?"

A'dal replied in a serene tone.

"Many years ago, before we came to meet the Draenei, our kindred would explore the universe and beyond in world ships we have made with magically fused technology. Through these methods we were able to travel to many worlds and observe them, along with finding other races who could help in fighting the darkness of the Burning Legion and other forces of darkness. We also traveled to other dimensions as well."

"In one such journey, we encountered the Forerunners and through them, we learned much of your dimension as well. We spoke to them well and learned of the war they had been in with the parasite that you know as the Flood. And through them, we learned of your people, or rather, your version of the Human race. In the long conversations that we had with the Forerunners, we learned about their passing of the Mantle to your race Spartan."

"Mantle?"

"The core philosophy of their race that speaks of their sworn duty to defend all life in the galaxy to ensure that all races lived in peace and free of conflict, as we learned from them of their past history, this was something that we have found to be interesting. Through them we learned of your race, Humanity as it were. They spoke highly of your race, stating that your kindred and they were alike in many ways though your' race's aggressive nature was a bit unsettling for them."

John could not help but agree to a degree with A'dal, as a student of history, he knew that while Humanity was capable of great things of peace, beauty, artistry and more, they were just as capable of horrible and violent acts as well. However, he decided to shelve those thoughts for another time and spoke once more.

"What happened to them?"

"They left your galaxy after the firing of the weapons they left behind to fight the threat you know as the Flood. Many of them died but not before storing all the other races of the galaxy, including those of your former enemies, the races that formed the Covenant in the Ark, and then purging the galaxy of all other life to prevent the Flood from consuming the galaxy. Once that was done, those of their race that yet lived moved on and were there to oversee the re-seeding of life in your galaxy to allow life to start over. Once they were done, they left your galaxy to settle elsewhere. It is in this exodus that my kindred and I encountered them."

"Through this, we watched over your race's development, from your time as cave-men as it were, and all the way to the rise of your empire and then to the war with the alien races known as the Covenant. However, we left half way through the conflict as our concern now came to fight with the Legion as they had invaded Azeroth as well as make their plans for a full scale recovery and counter attack after the fall of their leader Archimonde. As such, we have not been able to see the end of the war and as such, we have no part in your arrival here in this universe."

The Spartan looked at the Naaru and he was a bit frustrated, with good reason as well, since there was no way for him to see the expressions or signals that would have told him what was really going on, he had no idea if this Naaru was only playing him along. He was not the only one as Cortana herself was getting annoyed as despite being able to scan the energy creature, she was not getting anything that could tell her if this thing was lying to her and John.

A'dal seemed to sense the emotions of not just the Spartan and the A.I and spoke in a sagely yet kind tone.

"I understand that you are not fully convinced, but I assure you both that I have not lied to you, you're coming here to this universe was not the least bit expected, yet by coming here, you have placed yourselves in a vital role in the coming battles that will shape the races of this world and beyond. I wish to also state that we Naaru have done nothing to bring you here, even though we have the power to cross dimensions, we have no desire to force anyone to side with us, only if they are willing to do so will we take them to form the soon to come Army of Light."

"Army of Light?"

"Yes…there are great powers at play in the war with the Burning Legion, and for now, the focus is here in Azeroth itself. This world…holds the distinct and dubious honor of being the only world that has resisted the night of the Legion. It was here that a vast number of their greatest agents and soldiers died, weakening the Legion to a degree. And without a strong leader, they are fractured for now."

"For now? You mean that their leader will return?"

"Yes, while his physical form is lost to the Twisting Nether, the Dark Titan, Sargeras will not remain silent for long. You are familiar with him are you not?"

John nodded as he had indeed read all he could concerning the one known as the Dark Titan from his time in gathering information in the land. He then commented on said being as well since he seemed to be remarkably similar to a certain figure in his universe's religions.

"I have, he sounds like Satan though."

"Who?"

"The central antagonist of a faith where I come from, it's a long story but I doubt we're here to discuss religious matters right?"

A'dal glowed a bit and nodded.

"You are indeed correct, the matters before us right now pertains to the Blood Elf prince Kael'thas, when he and his still oblivious master, the corrupted Demon Hunter Illidan came to Outland, to recover from their disastrous defeat in the land of Northrend, they mounted an attack here…and a foolish action as well."

Cortana then replied.

"That's because you all have a common enemy right?"

"In that you are correct Lady Cortana, the greatest enemy that all life faces in Azeroth and beyond is the Burning Legion, along with other forces as old or older than even the Legion itself. Illidan and Kael's attack here was supposed to focus his control over Outland, however, it has not worked the way they have foreseen."

"Kael's greatest scholars, mages, and more have sided with us to fight for a common goal, and that is to defeat the Legion. You must know that Kael serves a new master now, there is no doubt that the Blood Elf's new master is a member of the Legion, who that is may soon be revealed to us. But as is stated, time waits for no one, even with the defection of his forces, Kael still commands a considerable force that are all fanatically loyal to his mad plans. Not only that, there is rumor around the lands that he and Illidan are gaining allies from the demon gates that remain operational."

"These gates must be shut down to stem the tide of the Legion forces streaming into Outland itself, yet these are but part of the danger. The two have established bases to attack vital places held by the Alliance and the Horde here in Outland, if these places fall and are taken by the Legion, then they will gain a foothold and turn the resources of this land to their own purpose. Outland may look like a ruined and useless world, but it's treasures and resources, plus the wells of power remain intact. They knew this, and as such, have established Manaforges in key places here as well."

"Kael has been working to create powerful weapons of magical might with these forges, publicly to support his former Master, but to secretly prepare his new Master's return…the kidnapping of our fellow Naaru from the Blood Elf capital of Silvermoon in Azeroth is part of this vile plan. He intends to use M'uru for the chance to bring his master back into the world…to finish what they started in Azeroth. Outland is not a ruined world, but it still has strategic value…it is a world in which the Legion can unleash more of their invasions, and where forces opposing the Legion can break their advance. "

Liadrin nodded in agreement.

"A'dal speaks truly, securing and holding Outland is critical for the survival of all life…we have to break any chance of…Kael's new master from the Legion from returning and rallying the Legion forces already here. They are disorganized and led by lieutenants who while powerful are not as strong as the generals of their forces in commanding much larger forces, if they are united, and secure this world…then we are doomed either way."

The others in the group led by the Spartan now could see that their actions were the right ones and it had been a wise move. However, they were also aware that they were too few to actually mount a counter attack of this scale. Sandra then spoke to the Spartan seriously.

"We have to return to Azeroth and tell the Alliance of what we have learned, if this is true, then we are in serious danger."

John agreed with Sandra and replied.

"I know, we need to send word back to Tyrande and the other members of the Alliance as well as the Horde leadership to get ready and if possible reinforce both garrisons they have watching over portals here to Outland as well as other outposts."

He then turned to Dana and spoke to the Paladin.

"Are there other Alliance garrison here?"

Dana thought it over and knew that there were some but she had no idea where these might be, not many maps were made by Alliance map makers when it concerned Outland.

"There are some outposts that I know of. But they are located in areas that are too risky to go in alone and unprepared. The largest by far is Honor Hold located in the Hellfire Peninsula, it served as the primary base of the Alliance during the Expedition led by the Sons of Lothar when they chased rogue Orc forces years before the Third War. Now is the primary Alliance town in this world. There are others and if I recall right…"

That was when A'dal replied.

"There are other Alliance bases and outposts as well, but they too are under siege, in order to ensure that the Alliance recovers, then these locations must be freed from their state of siege. The Stair of Destiny which is used by both the Alliance and the Horde is under siege as well by the Legion, and it is the largest area for reinforcements from Azeroth to be sent, if it falls then the situation becomes dire. The same can be said of the Horde outposts here in Outland as well, they too are under siege and they will need all the allies they can get in order to"

John could see that this situation he was now in was going to be very serious matter that they were going to have to deal with soon. But he also decided to wait and organize things first before making his move.

"We will need to set up a base of operations."

A'dal then spoke as well.

"That you will, Shattrath Coty shall be your haven Spartan, this place will have to serve for now."

John was surprised by this and asked the question that came to mind the very second that the Naaru told him that this city was going to serve as a base.

"Are you sure that you are willing to allow us to use this place as a base of operations?"

"Yes, the Alliance and the Horde will need all the allies that it can get, and you also have a stake in this matter as well. Though you are not part of this world, you know that if the Legion succeeds, you will be taken into it as well. For now there is work to be done I believe, take your time to gather whatever it is you need and be ready, Kael'thas is no doubt now aware of the failure of his followers, and he will soon make another move of his own and that is something that we all must be prepared for."

John knew that and so did Cortana, after taking the time to bid farewell to the Naaru, John decided to use the place where he had been recovering in to plan the next phase of the operation, he picked one from each of the group to go back to Azeroth and tell their leaders of what had transpired and what was about to happen here in Outland, he also ordered the others to begin searching for any clues that would explain if Kael's forces had other plans apart from attacking Shattrath City.

He however then spoke that he might have an idea as to why Kael'thas would allow an attack like this on Shattrath City before. Kael might have known that eventually his followers would find out that he had aligned with the Legion, and while he knew his most fanatically loyal followers would go with him, the others would not. Even if it would cost him a great deal of his forces, that were now in residence here, he considered it a good trade-off as only his fanatics will remain to see things through.

That made sense and A'dal agreed with him, this also convinced Liadrin that they had to stop Kael'thas and that was why she decided to send her own report to the Silvermoon Council as well as requests for all able bodied and willing adventurers and soldiers that could be spared to make their way to Outland and prepare for the offensive against their former prince.

…

Out in the field…

It was not long before the combined Alliance and Horde members were back out in the land that they had been fighting in before looking about in the field of battle. They were looking for any clues on the bodies of the slain forces of Kael'thas Sunstrider. The chance of finding any important documents on them was not very high, but anything that could give them a clue as to what had happened to make the Blood Elf prince turn on his own people and side with the Burning Legion as well as any plans and documents that could be of some use.

Tannis and Erin were there and along with a few of the others who were the representatives of the Alliance and the Horde who were assigned to work with the Spartan. They were currently in the lead as these were their people and they wanted to know just what was it that would make them side with the Legion. So far the group with them focused looking on the bodies of the warriors as well as the mages.

They had no idea what they would find, but the extra coins of copper, silver, and gold would be useful for them as well as also selling anything that would not be needed. They however recalled that the Spartan had requested them to make sure that if they did find anything related to the reason they were here in the very first place was kept intact. So far, they were able to salvage a lot of things though they were not finding much just yet. Janna, Derek, Sandra, Daine, Drogna, Ruskhain, Talia, Thorall, and Hagin moved back to the portal to inform their race's respective leaders of what was to come

It was here that the Troll Shadow Hunter Zallandra found some sort of device on the mages that had attacked the Spartan earlier and it looked strange. The device in question had vials on them as well as some tubes that ended with needles.

The others looked on at the now empty vials in the hands of Zallandra as the Troll Shadow Hunter as she smelled it, she recoiled with disgust all over her face as Dana spoke.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Th' vials reek o demonic blood."

This surprised many of them, even more so in Tannis' case as he looked on with shock and utter disgust. The vials seemed to have some sort of connection tub to needles and he was quick to realize what was going on.

"They…they were injecting demon blood into themselves when fighting…"

Dana did not like this as she used her Holy magic to look for sure, and just as she did so, the traces of demonic blood glowed malevolently at the presence of her magic, making the Paladin even more worried at the implications of the Blood Elves doing this.

Erin on the other hand felt like she had been stabbed in the back. The thought of her people willingly giving into their addictions was hard enough, but actually taking in demon blood was horrifying to her as she recalled seeing the forms of those who they now knew drank the blood freely.

She could not take it anymore and quickly turned away to head back to Shattrath City and the look of shock on her face was easily seen by the others in the group. Tannis knew that they had to report to John as this would explain why the Mages had managed to hit him hard with their magic. The energy in demon blood could help with the addictions, but too much could easily empower their magic greatly, at the cost of becoming corrupted and deluded monstrosities.

How could his people become this addicted, he would never know, but either way, this had to be reported.

"We need to head back to the city soon, we might need to report this discovery apart from what else we can find."

The others agreed with that and soon found a number of documents from some of the slain mages which was not ruined by blood, some of the documents appeared to be merely mundane material, but the others detailed the locations of the Manaforges as well as the current state of the Demon portals that were unleashing more and more of the demons that were plaguing the land around them. These would prove useful soon enough so they had to make sure that they found all that they needed before calling it a day.

However, there was something in the documents that seemed to deal with something called the Cipher. This became something of great interest for the others. They headed back to do what they could to find out just what the Cipher was as well as find out any possible means to end Kael'thas and Illidan once and for all.

…

In Shattrath City…

Kaelyn looked over the city that served as their base of operations for now and was sure that this world was different, instead of the lush forests and rivers she had bee familiar with, this place was like a desert and barren as well, it was certainly not a place for any Night Elf to feel welcome, and those of her people who had managed to survive in this place deserved her respect to have done so in such a place. However she was not focusing on that as she moved back to join the others as John looked over the documents and then managed to consult a map provided to him by one of the Draenei residing in Outland, he and Cortana copied the map and began to locate the four Manaforges. He had learned that these would soon tear the Netherstorm region to pieces and that was a vital location as well to Outland. The other thing that worried the Spartan was the fact that the Manaforges were connected to Tempest Keep.

Tempest Keep, as far as he was able to piece together had been the former stronghold of Velen and his people, before Illidan, Kael'thas, and Lady Vashj, one of the Naga people's best agents and their followers had come to set up when he fled from his failure to kill Arthas at the behest of his own master who John had learned eventually from Tyrande was none other than Kil'jaeden. Tempest Keep was built with Naaru technology so it was a safe bet in his and Cortana's mind that they would use Naaru technology to power these Manaforges in battle.

His concern was what Kael would do next, so far the assault on key Alliance and Horde positions followed the usual pattern associated with traditional assault methods. But ever since he came here he had a feeling that there was more to that than just sieges.

He turned to face Tannis and spoke to the Blood Elf.

"What else have you found?"

"This…documents that seem to talk about a Cipher…whatever it is, Kael'thas seems hell bent on locating it, we have no idea what this Cipher is at the moment so we're in the dark."

John shook his head at this and decided to go and see the files they had gathered which could be useful in helping determine what this Cipher was, as this brought back memories on his own search for the Activation Index.

"Does anyone have an idea what this Cipher is?"

The others were not sure, until one of the Draenei residents spoke.

"There may be one who will know…there is an Orc by the name of Oronok Torn-heart who lives in Shadowmoon Valley, he is not part of the Horde and has traded with the Horde and the Alliance and has been here for many years. It is a risk, but he may have answers. Another would be the Earthen Ring, they are the ones who would have greater knowledge of the device as well and as such, going to them would fill in the gaps"

John nodded, but that was when he turned his attention to the fact that there seemed to be someone missing from the meeting, and that was none other than Erin herself. And this was also when the others showed him the vials that they had recovered from the bodies of the slain Blood Elves.

…

John moved into the terrace to look for Erin, and it did not take long for him to find the distraught Blood Elf rogue, he could easily see that the discovery of the scope of her people's addiction to demon magic was not very helpful to the mind of the young woman. He had to admit that the discovery of the Blood Elves in Kael's command using the blood of demons as some form of booster was troubling.

When the group brought this to his attention as well as that of the others, the reactions were not good, and that was when he noted that Erin was not with the others. Janna told him that the discovery had hit Erin hard and she was currently trying to make some level of sense as to how this was made to happen to their people by their own leader.

John walked over to her and reached out to her, she flinched at his action but did not force his hand away from her shoulder. This allowed him to sense with the scanners of his MJOLNIR that she was very unhappy and was no doubt going to be in a very foul mood. And he was not disappointed as she turned to him and was actually trying to hide her face from him, something that she would not normally do.

"Erin…"

"I am sorry…it's…I can't believe this…how could they have fallen so badly to let themselves be controlled by their addictions when we have spent so many years trying to not let ourselves be ruled by it…how could the Prince allow this to happen to them?"

John could tell that the woman was truly shaken and decided to speak to her once more.

"You are not at fault here, the only way to get those answers is already known to you, all you need to focus now is to deal with what is happening here."

Erin looked at the Spartan who still had his helmet on and she could easily see her very own face looking right back at her and she knew that he was right. She could not stay like this forever, she needed answers and so did everyone back in Silvermoon City and moping around here was not going to give her the answers she needed.

She nodded at that and replied.

"You are right…so what do we do now?"

John thought it over and replied as he gestured for Erin to follow him.

"We have at least learned of several vital locations of Kael'thas' operations, but he seems to be interested in an artifact known as the Cipher, we have no idea what it is, but we need to find answers to the question on why he would want such a thing. So far there are sources, the Earthen Ring and an Orc by the name of Oronok who can provide us the answers"

Erin nodded and decided to get herself ready to do what she could and eventually find her answers on what had happened to her people who were in this place. Once things were settled, John decided that they needed to focus on denying Kael'thas the Cipher and in order to do just that, they would have to make their way to the Earthen Ring to learn more and then find this Orc that was mentioned to them.

However, it was also here than John decided to head back to the Dawn to get something, he allowed the others to get what they needed before they made their way to meet the Earthen Ring.

…

It was not long before John came back and had a crate with him, something that he felt would be of good use in what they were all about to take part in. This mission was going to be something that was going to be a great test of their abilities, and John decided that he was going to have to go all out for that. However, he had to make sure that one of them had some new protection for what was soon to come.

He opened the crate and removed what was a suit of UNSC Marine Body Armor, the M52B Body Armor Vest along with the inner Ballistic Assault Vest. He checked it to see if it was still in working condition, once he was satisfied that it was going to work up to the standard, he decided to give it to the rogue while she was cleaning her swords.

John walked over to Erin and gave her the Marine Body Armor complete with the full set, the equipment surprised Erin and she made her surprise evident in her next question.

"What is this?"

"Protection, with what we're all going to be facing this will come in handy, put it on."

The Blood Elf rogue looked at the armor with a very curious eye as well as some level of worry, She had only worn light armor such as leather and never anything like this and worried that it would be cumbersome and heavy for her to use. She made that clear to the Spartan though she made sure not to sound offensive, she did know that he was doing this to make sure that she would be all right and that made her feel happy for some reason or another.

"Are you sure I can wear that? It looks rather heavy and cumbersome, I don't wish to sound ungrateful but I won't be of much use if I can't move fast enough."

John smirked a bit in his helmet and replied.

"Don't worry, it's not as heavy as Plate or mail but it will help you a lot, test it out."

Erin was still not totally sold but decided to put it on to see if what the Spartan said about it was true, it took some time for her to latch the armor on over her leather armor after putting on the black inner vest that went with it. The feeling was a bit different than what she had worn in the past as the inner part of the Armor seemed to be almost like gel. However, she noted that as soon as she fully latched it into place on her body as well as her leather, the armor was actually quite comfortable and was actually not as heavy as she had previously thought.

It was also here that the inner part of the new Armor actually began to mold to her body shape in mere moments, And it felt rather comfortable as well, much to her surprise and she did not sweat as much as she thought despite the fact that she was still wearing her leather armor. She moved around a bit to find that the Armor was actually segmented and could move well enough with her body motions which were impressive indeed. She then donned the rest of the equipment which she found was quite impressive in their very own right as they were light weight and did not weigh her down at all.

As soon as she was done, she looked at the Spartan who seemed to be cocking his head to the side a bit, no doubt a bit amused at her reactions to wearing the armor he had given her. He then spoke to her in a calm yet undeniably slightly amused tone.

"So, how is the armor?"

"It's…different, I though it would be heavy and hard to move in, but it's actually quite light and feels rather comfortable as well."

"That's the M52B Body Armor Suit worn by all UNSC Marines, I had it retrofitted to have stronger plating as well as a few other things to make it a bit easier for you to use. The reason it's light weight is that instead of traditional metal armor, it uses ceramics."

"C-ceramics?"

"It's a special type of material that has the strength and durability of metal but half the weight so it's a lot lighter and easier to move in. Originally these suits were using Titanium A Alloy plating as armor, but we switched to ceramics since they were just as tough and durable as Titanium but was not as expensive to use, though this does have a thin Titanium A shell in key areas. That's why despite it's appearance, it's a lot lighter and also easier to use."

Erin was impressed, and also greatly touched, while she knew that the Spartan had his own reasons for doing this, the fact that he had willingly given this suit of armor from his own stores was a sign that she was important to him. What was the level of that importance was still unknown to her, but she was happy either way.

"Thank you for the present Spartan."

"Don't worry about it, take good care of it and it will save your life, now then, we have to work on some other matters so I hope that you will be up for the task."

The Blood Elf smiled warmly at that and replied.

"I will not disappoint you."

As she followed him, she could not help but touch her new armor, finding it to be very well made, another thing that made her very impressed with the way the Spartan's people actually lived and how different their technology was to the ones she had already seen in her very long career as a rogue, and the fact that he had given it to her for her safety made her all the more eager to be with the Spartan.

She turned and saw that Kaelyn, and Sandra were not too happy with this as they glared at her as they began to move out. They needed to meet with the Earthen Ring first, and then locate this Orc named Oronok, along the way, they needed to gather supplies and resources that will be of good use in the time to come.

However, that was when he was called in by A'dal and when they arrived there, there seemed to be a large table there before the Naaru, John wondered what this was about until A'dal spoke.

"Before you go Spartan, you will need to be properly equipped to face the demons of the Burning Legion, I have no doubt that you have never faced demons before so you will need power to fight them."

"How?"

"I will imbue your weapons and if needed, your armor to make sure that you will be able to fight them in an equal footing. This will be your edge in facing them for while they can be harmed by traditional means, that will take too long."

John had to admit that it was a good offer and Khadgar himself agreed with the idea as he spoke to the Spartan.

"A'dal speaks truly, you will need all the advantages you can get if you are to face the Legion and this is something that will help you in what you must do greatly."

John nodded and decided to get his weapons and place them there, and naturally he would have to remove his armor yet again. It was going to delay his plans and it was not something he wanted, but facing demons was unknown to him and any power he can use to even up the odds was undeniably welcome. As soon as the process was over, he was going to make sure to test everything out in a more thorough fashion. However he did have one important concern.

"What of Cortana?"

"We shall also help her if you so desire, while she is a machine, we can imbue her with some energy to ensure that she will not be affected by the presence of the demons, they do have great power and while she is not alive per say, it is better to be safe than sorry, or worse, dead."

Cortana then replied to that.

"Can't argue with the Logic there Chief…yank me, I'll be all right so don't worry."

"You always worry me."

Cortana smiled at that and allowed it for now. One thing was certain however, it was going to be a very interesting day.

This was going to be an interesting day.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

How long has it been? It's nice to be bringing this story back from the ice box as it were though I do hope that I have not lost my touch.

This chapter is not as long as the stories I have made, but that is to be expected as I had to get my feet wet again when it came to this story as it has been some time. And a LOT has happened since then that I have to consider in detail. One of which was the introduction of the Forerunner Saga which is now being read by others in the rest of the Halo community.

Now if you are going to ask if I have plans to include the data from the Forerunner Saga novels into this and other stories, the answer is no. I have added parts of it into my Halo Justice League crossover idea already, but not all of it. Why? Simply put, the story is not finished as of yet and I cannot add any information as it is still up for debate on what else will be added into the lore of the Halo universe and the stories are not yet finished.

This means that I will stick to what I have already started so as to finish this story the way that I had envisioned it from the very second that I made this. So don't expect any stunning revelations in the way of the books as I have no plans of using the books as a starting point for the rest of the story.

Also to those who had ideas that the Forerunners and the Naaru are somehow related, that is wrong in a lot of ways and as such, the Naaru only MET the Forerunners and as such, are not related to them in any fashion . I know you would have wanted something along those lines, but seriously, it would be just plain weird in my mind for that to happen of all things.

…

With that matter out of the way, let's get down to the base of this chapter, as you are aware, after this and a rest period for the group, they will soon be taking part in the assault on the Black Temple to face Illidan and Kael'thas as well as their combined armies and you can bet that things will get interesting to boot. The fact that the Blood Elf mages in Kael's forces are using Demon Blood as a form of magical booster will explain why their magic is a lot stronger in some cases, namely when John took that combined fireball hit from before.

The confrontation between the two antagonists and our Spartan as well as those under his command as well as a few other heroes from the Alliance and Horde should be an interesting situation to boot. The battles will be a lot louder this time around and while it will be at a scale that will undeniably be large, it will be rather interesting to boot.

And as you can see, Erin finally got a present from the Spartan, and it's fairly effective one as it is a suit of armor for her protection, nothing too exotic, at least in terms of protection. It is naturally a suit of Marine Body Armor that I decided to bring into play as I have already given a gift to Kaelyn and so to be fair to her counter-part, I gave her something that goes with the theme of defense.

…

But before we go any further, I will like to point out that in the next chapter or after the Burning Crusade Arc if needed, I will make a lemon that will have the Master Chief get intimate with a female character. Before I start getting questions on who, what, where, when, or why, I have to point out that sooner or later it was going to happen, after all, you can't expect me to keep that from happening at this point.

Now if you want to know who the woman is, feel free to make suggestions to me and make sure that it makes sense. And don't bother sending me flames either, keep in mind that this is my story and I do have the right to make it work and flow the way I want it to. I am not being unreasonable however and will listen to advice and suggestions. Just don't make it a too personal thing all right?

…

See you all very soon on the next chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

World of Warcraft Halo

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to either Blizzard or Bungie.

Chapter 11

Part 2

Relic Retrieval

( ): Thoughts

…

In Outland…

John was currently looking over the wide expanse of the horizon of Shattrath City and he was currently wearing only UNSC Marine fatigues and carrying an MA5C ICWS Mark II Assault Rifle which was on a strap on his shoulder. He was not very comfortable with the feeling of not being in his MJOLNIR Mark VI but he knew that it was necessary since he needed all the edges he could get his hands on when facing the Demonic forces that called this world home.

Had he not been in this world and this dimension as it were, he would have scoffed at the idea of Demons being real, but ever since his time here, he was a lot more open minded in his state of mind. These creatures were not like anything he had fought before and that was why he and Cortana knew that they had to be properly armed, and while he and she were not sure what was in the mind of this…Naaru named A'dal, he was not going to make any snap judgments right now.

As he looked at the land, he also recalled why he had to shelve his plans to make his move to go and locate this Orc and the item known as the Cipher of Damnation, whatever that was. This Orc might very well be the only source of information that they were going to be able to find but what they learned thus far was not good. It was going to be at least several weeks to at least two months worth of travel on foot to reach this Orc as well as moving from land mass to land mass, and considering the dangers that were going to be there in this land then that was going to be a very long trip which was not going to be the least bit safe, even more so if this Illidan and Kael'thas decide to get in their way.

Had he been able to bring any UNSC vehicles with him on this mission then the trip would not take too long, but he doubted that it was going to be that simple. This world was totally unlike Azeroth and therefore the resources that he could normally use, namely water to fuel the UNSC vehicles. He was also concerned with his supplies of ammunition for all of his weapons, both UNSC and Covenant. He had to make sure that his supplies would be all right and that his equipment that he had brought with him were going to be enough to provide him with supplies. This city already had the baseline materials for making ammunition and he had the gear though he hoped that he would be able to find any new materials to make more unique ammunition.

He placed that aside and turned to see the rest of the city and was soon joined by the Night Elf Warden Keina and she seemed to be deep in thought about something. He said nothing at the moment since he knew that interfering into something that he was not aware of was not the most productive thing that he could do.

The Night Elf Warden herself said nothing for a while or so before she finally spoke.

"I never thought I would be here in this place of Outland…nor possibly facing the Betrayer himself"

John decided to reply to that as he was curious what that meant.

"What exactly do you mean by that and who is this Betrayer?"

"He is…or was Illidan Stormrage, you no doubt have heard of him Spartan, he was the brother of Shan'do Stormrage and was one of the first Demon Hunters in existence. His crimes were such that he had been buried in an underground prison for ten thousand years and the first of us Wardens watched over him. Her name was Maiev Shadowsong and she had trained all her life for this duty as she had seen the dangers of arcane magic first hand. "

John listened to what she had to say about Maiev and Illidan, he was aware that Illidan was released by Tyrande despite Malfurion's warnings to aid in the war when the Legion invaded. And as soon as it was told to him what happened to Illidan and how Maiev took it upon herself to hunt down and imprison Illidan again. But as Keina explained how Maiev became so consumed with vengeance and hunted Illidan to this land even at the risk of never coming home, he could see why she seemed…uneasy being here.

"She embodied our mission well but also was a symbol of the perils of being in this position of responsibility and duty."

"And if Illidan is here and alive…then you worry that she is here as well?"

"I do not know…this world…it feels wrong to me and no doubt to the others of my race. I do not know how anyone of us can even fathom living in this dark and barren world. I do not know why I think these things actually, but it is hard not to…this place, this battle that is soon to come, I do not know what will happen where we are indeed here in this world."

John shrugged and replied to that in his very own fashion.

"You will gain nothing worrying about it, focus on the here and now. And just because you are a Warden, you do not need to think that you will be taking the very same path that Maiev took, she is not you and you are not her."

Keina looked at John and gave a nod.

"I suppose not, anyway, I will need to take my leave, I will need to have my gear checked out once we being to move to find this Orc who can tell us of this Cipher of Damnation."

John nodded as Keina did just that and headed off to get her gear checked out, as for him, he decided to wait a bit longer and hope that whatever was being done to his equipment and weapons would be over soon. For now all he could do was wait and plan out his moves when they would soon be on the move and to deal with the situation.

It was not long that he was able to see one of the Draenei guards of the city came towards him, and from the looks of things, he was about to see just what was done to the MJOLNIR and the rest of his weapons for the battles with what this world was going to unleash upon him.

…

As he came in, he made sure to go and recover the chip that housed Cortana which was under his watch and in a special TACPAD that was made to store her chip for now. Cortana herself was in the best of moods as she had taken the time to clean her systems and Riemann Matrix to keep it working in the proper order.

He was soon joined by Kaelyn, Dana. Erin, and Tannis as well as the others of his unofficial team to head to the place within the higher echelons of the city, where A'dal had his gear taken as well as the weapons that he had with him on this trip to be enchanted. As they headed there, they were watched by the residents of the city as well as the Scryers and the Aldor forces who were there as well.

John looked at the MJOLNIR Mark VI and the caches of weapons that were wheeled out to him to look at with the others. A'dal was there as well as Archmage Khagder and the two seemed to watch as the Spartan looked at his newly imbued weapons and armor. John took one of the new MA5C Assault Rifles and noted that it actually had some new changes to it. The first thing or rather things he noticed was there were several glowing crystals inside the weapon in several places. He checked the crystals and felt some sort of energy coming from them. A calm and soothing energy but filled with an inner fire as well.

He checked the other weapons that were of UNSC manufacture and saw the same features in them as well. There were even some crystals in the pommel of the Combat Knives and even his katanas which he brought along had them. And when he turned to the weapons of the Covenant, they were glowing differently, there was a white-golden glow in them and when he activated one of the Energy Swords, he was mildly surprised to see that instead of the traditional deep blue-white blade of plasma energy, it was replaced with a deep golden color and seemed to actually hum at a different tune. He then deactivated the weapon and noted that there was a deep white crystal in the middle of each handle of the Energy Sword, right where the battery pack out usually be

He turned his attention to his MJOLNIR and noted that while it remained basically the same in form and appearance, there were also glowing crystals in several areas. One was in the middle of each forearm, the upper arm, the thighs, the ankles, and shoulders, two on the back and one larger one on the chest. The helmet also had a crystal there as well, above the visor. As he looked at them, he also noted strange inscriptions in an alien tongue that glowed deep gold as well, even more so when he placed his hands over them.

He looked at A'dal and spoke seriously.

"What have you done with my weapons and my armor?"

A'dal replied to that easily enough as the Spartan waited for the answers to what exactly had happened to his equipment.

"I have placed these weapons and your armor in what we Naaru call a Light Forge, it is a place where we imbue a vast portion of our magic and at times of great need, our very essence into things that are needed in times of war. It has been some time since this city's Light Forge has been used and it has taken some effort to awaken it. The weapons made by your people, the UNSC have been imbued to be resistant to demonic magic so they cannot be easily destroyed or corrupted by demon magic or that cast by warlocks and necromancers. The crystals in them also have the power to imbue the bullets with the power to counter demonic powers. They will be able to bypass any shield and magical barrier made by the Legion unless the barriers and shield in question are much stronger."

"These bullets also will be able to allow you to inflict much greater harm on those who have demonic blood flowing in their bodies as well as having been mutated by magical powers that are related to demon magic. They will still retain their lethality on regular foes but are more attuned to harming demons and denizens of the Twisting Nether, and you will no doubt find plenty of them here in the ruined remains of Draenor. For although the hold of the Legion here is not as strong as it once was, many of it's scattered forces are still strong here. The corrupted remains of the Orcs who serve both the Legion and Kil'Jaeden's agents will also be present and your weapons will be more than able to hold them."

"As for your more exotic weapons, they too have been infused with our powers in the Light so they in turn will be just as effective in harming the foes that we have already mentioned. They have crystals from my own body which will serve as a powerful source of the energy needed to harm those of demonic origins and as such will be helpful should these creatures be able to resist your attacks. The weapons you use for close combat have been infused with my kindred's powers as well from my own body so they too will be useful just in case close battles are unavoidable."

A'dal then turned to the MJOLNIR and he was soon able to explain the changes that he had been able to place into it to help the Spartan combat the enemies that he was about to face.

"Your armor has also been enchanted to give you a much better chance in facing the forces of the Burning Legion. The crystals that have been fused into your armor have the power to create a strong magical barrier which works in the same way as your armor's technological shields would. But their power is focused on resisting the magical attacks of those who use demonic or shadow magic by deflecting them, they also block physical attacks by weapons of demonic origin as well. The inscriptions placed there on your armor also serve to shield your body and mind from any attack of demonic magic that is aimed to weaken you physically or mentally."

"Demons will no doubt attempt to weaken your mental resolve and even attempt to corrupt you and turn you on your allies. And while your mental armor is not to be underestimated, even that will not be enough should you face demons of great strength who may be able to break that mental armor. These inscriptions of power will be able to give you a much needed measure of protection should it ever come to that point and when you face such foes. They also will serve to protect you from demonic curses to a degree that is cast in your direction and serve to heal you as well, both the inscriptions and the crystals can help heal your wounds alongside the technological systems of healing your armor already has. They in turn will also help counter most poisons of demonic origin. And they too will help you be able to see those with demonic taint in them should they appear normal to you, though you have already developed the ability to see magic through your technology, this should make it much easier as some demons and their agents are more adept in hiding themselves than even the most gifted of rogues "

John was surprised by all these changes and he had to admit that they seemed very useful indeed if he was going to be in this world for a very long time. The same could be said for those who were with him, for such gifts were very powerful for only one man to have. Though her people worshipped nature and had their own pantheon of divine beings, Kaelyn and the other Night Elves were able to appreciate such gifts and she herself was pleased that John was able to get such useful tools to fight the Legion with in the coming times. She had been worried how he might fare against demons as she herself had been fortunate to have survived the Legions assault and that of their Scourge allies so long ago at Mount Hyjal. This realm they had come to was going to be a serious test in her mind so they were going to need all the advantages that they were going to get.

She and the others were not the only ones who were impressed as Cortana who was in her memory chip appeared and she was also showing an expression of interest.

"All of these upgrades certainly sound promising and no doubt we are going to need all of the advantages we can get John."

"I know."

The Spartan and the A.I turned to face the Naaru and John was the first to speak to A'dal.

"Thank you."

Cortana said likewise.

"Thanks…these new upgrades will certainly help us a great deal."

A'dal glowed a bit and replied.

"You are quite welcome, you both will need to wield these powers is you are to succeed in what it is that you will need to do in order to make sure that the Legion will not be able to succeed even with the aid of Prince Kael'thas and his loyalist forces. You will have to be wary of Illidan and those who follow him however, while he is not entirely aware of what is happening under his watch, do not expect him to let you attack his base of operations. No doubt the defeat of Kael'thas' forces will reach his ears and he will not be pleased at all."

…

The Naaru was very much right on that regard…

In the Black Temple…a dark figure bristling with power was deep in thought.

The former Night Elf was currently brooding darkly on his throne deep within the Black Temple in silent contemplation. Were it not for the fact that he was breathing and his body moved, anyone who was not familiar with the former brother of Malfurion Stormrage would have mistaken him for a dark and evil statue that was too lifelike to be real. His twin blades rested near his throne as his wings moved slightly as he brooded over many things.

One such thing was the news of another failed assault on Shattrath City by Kael's forces and the sudden appearance of a new force that was surprisingly comprised of forces from both the Alliance and the Horde. He had been receiving reports from his agents who had infiltrated the Alliance and the Horde towns and bases in Draenor of increasing numbers of Alliance and Horde forces which possibly meant that the two sides were making separate operations to try and stop him.

This made the former Demon Hunter growl deeply at the thought of these cretins trying to usurp his plans to return to Azeroth and finally have his long overdue revenge against ALL who have scorned and wounded him. Tyrande and his brother would be spared, but his dark heart vowed that if Furion ever came to face him again, he would not hesitate this time around . And most of all, he would finally settle his defeat with Arthas…the Death Knight that had been a thorn on his side from the very first day they had met. Illidan recalled in deep bitterness the corrupted and soulless human who had 'persuaded' him to acquire the Skull of Gul'dan to gain more power, and the results of it. Then he recalled his defeat by the hands of that same human who took the power of the Lich King as his own.

Those thoughts filled him with hatred and loathing, and he planned to remedy that once his forces were fully assembled. Holding and controlling this Outland would help him and when all he needed was ready, they would march on and then strike at his foes and this time, nothing will change the fact that Arthas would die. For even though he was now the Lich King, not even the innumerable forces of the undead that he could summon would matter before the might of the Legion…after all, the Legion created the Scourge and they were going to unmake them…and when they did, he would be there to carve off Arthas's head and present it and the crown of the Lich King to Kil'Jaeden.

This unknown force was of SOME concern to him, but not enough to warrant his full attention, even though they were made of forces from both the Alliance and the Horde races, they would not be enough to make much of a difference without larger numbers. The news that they had a Red Dragon as an ally did not bother Illidan either, this Dragon, according to his spies who had been there yet far away from the battle had reported that it's powers were not in the level of the Red Dragon Queen herself and as such was not too much of a danger. The same could be said for this…green and black armored being that his spies spoke of.

(They will be dealt with…mere cretins who will feel the bite of my blades and taste the fullness of my fury.)

(Soon…all will burn by the fires of my hate and Arthas's head will soon be on a pike in this very throne. The time for dreaming of his death will soon be over…soon, those dreams will one day become reality.)

However, it was here that Illidan decided that he should at the very least visit someone who had been able to keep alive for some time, Someone who he knew would know what it was like to be trapped in a prison for so long. However, unlike him, the person in question was a prisoner of her own making and no one could free her, but herself. With that plan in mind, Illidan moved to recover his blades and made his way to the deeper parts of his temple and base of operations.

He wondered just what was her reaction going to be when he appeared once more before her…so close yet so far as well.

…

Deep in the prison…

Illidan looked about in the dark and unwelcoming cells in his fortress, even without his eyes, he moved with a grace that spoke volumes of his ability to see the world differently…a gift from the Dark Titan himself that he had used for his own gain and at times that of the Legion. For now however, he placed such memories aside as he had more important matters to deal with. He made his way deeper and soon was before a figure that he knew all too well.

"Akama, it has been some time since I visited this place has it not?"

"Almost several days Lord Illidan."

"Has she made any attempt to escape?"

Before the Broken Draenei could speak in order to answer the question placed before him, another voice was soon to join them.

"I am still here Betrayer! I will not remain locked in here forever…I will be free and you will suffer for all you have done to me!"

The voice was filled with unrestrained venom and hatred, and was mixed with an aura of power as well as strength. But instead of being worried or frightened by the voice in question, Illidan laughed deeply and moved away from Akama and entered the cell. The specially made lights came up to reveal their prisoner.

The prisoner was a Night Elf who wore the very same armor that the Night Elf Wardens wore, but she was no simple Night Elf, she was on the most recognized Wardens and was seen as the strongest of them all, yet also a symbol of the folly of allowing one's self to be taken over by the need of vengeance at the expense of all things that made life worth living.

She was Maiev Shadowsong…and so long ago, she was the one who watched diligently over Illidan for his internment in that infernal prison for nearly ten thousand years. When Tyrande freed him years before, Maiev went out of her way to track him down and bring him back into that barrow prison. No matter where he went, and no matter how many followers he had with him, she was there to chase him, with her very own followers and her desire to bring him to justice.

But over time things changed…the deaths of her sisters, and her closest friend Naisha at the hands of the Illidan and the Eye of Sargeras had driven her to the limits and she became obsessed with capturing him, willing to risk even coming to this damned land and fighting against odds that eventually led to her capture. She had tried to finally capture him and take him down, but Illidan's skills had improved greatly since leading the Blood Elves and the Naga in battle in this world as well as his slaying of many powerful foes ever since his arrival. He managed to out maneuver and over power her when she was now alone as her other sisters were now dead and gone. But instead of ending her life, Illidan took her prisoner and kept her alive.

There was no doubt that this was not as an act of mercy in Illidan's part for when he took her prisoner, he subjected her to the very same abuse she had done when she had caught him the first time. And now here she was, a prisoner in his own kingdom and something to amuse himself with. And that drove Maiev to the greatest depths of fury and vengrance.

Illidan loved that as he decided to taunt her again, it had been some time since he had done that after all.

"Still you rage about your desires to have me buried in a cell Maiev, I had hoped that spending time here in this prison would show you that all you have hoped for has come to nothing."

Maiev growled darkly at Illidan and the former Night Elf knew it as he chuckled darkly at her and replied.

"I trust that you have been fed?"

"Spare me your pathetic attempts Illidan, the only thing that will make me feel complete is to be able to plunge my Moon Sword into your black and corrupt heart and take your wretched corpse and toss it back into that dark hole that was you're home! The chance to see your corpse rot away and fade into nothing is justice for all the things that you have done!"

Illidan frowned a bit but he was not too angry and decided to reply to that.

"Nothing would please you more than that I see, my dear Warden. Do you still hear them Maiev? Do you still remember the cries and screams of your fellow Watchers as they fell and died around you when you pursued me all those years ago?"

"Silence…"

"Do you remember how they screamed along with Naisha as the ruins of the Tomb of Sargeras fell down on them? Do you recall the sounds of the boulders crush them into nothing but pulp and how much agony they felt until they died?"

"N-Naisha…"

Despite Maiev's whispering o her beloved friend's name, Illidan's hearing picked it up and that made him smile even more as he tightened the pressure on the Warden.

"Do you remember seeing the ruined and bleeding bodies of your Watchers as you continued to pursue me? How they died by my blades and by that of my followers or by starvation and thirst as you and they tried to eke out an existence away from Kalimdor? And how the last of your followers finally fell when you so foolishly led that attack on this very place and how their bodies were left to rot in the grounds or were feasted on by my soldiers and the scavengers that roamed the wastelands?"

"Damn you…"

Illidan grinned and made sure Maiev would see it all.

"And you claim that I killed them? I did spill their blood in battle, but you could have prevented it all had you not interfered with my plans to end the Lich King. And then you and those who still followed you came here to imprison me…even though it was clear that there would be no easy escape for you. You led them to their deaths Maiev Shadowsong, and you know it. Tell me something dear Warden, do they scream at you in your dreams when you sleep in this cell Maiev? Do they curse your name in your dreams? Do they point their fingers at you and call you mad and insane for chasing me? Do they look at you with disgust at how willing you are to hunt me down even if it will end their lives? Tell me Maiev…tell me."

Maiev snapped and tried to strike at Illidan and slammed his fist into the bars of her prison cell, she ignored the pain that came with her actions. The pain of her hand was nothing compared to the pain that was now inside of her heart. Illidan was the heart of this pain as he had been able to strike deep into her heart. The memories that he brought back to her mind drove her to an even darker level of rage as she glared darkly at him and desperately wished to have her hands around his neck.

Illidan sensed that easily and taunted her again.

"I struck a nerve I see…"

"You wretched demon…I will have my revenge, I swear it…and this time, you WILL DIE!"

"Then come out and claim your desire Maiev, use your power to strike me from behind."

Maiev was desperately tempted to do just that, but that would prove impossible as the cell was ensorcelled with special wards that were able to nullify her abilities as a Warden. Illidan had the place specially prepared for her and that infuriated her. There was no form of escape for her through her powers, the only way to free herself from this wretched cell was with a key that was designed to open the complex lock and also deactivated the wards.

She gritted her teeth and curled her fist harder to the point that she felt pain as her armored fingers began to did even into her hand.

"I will kill you Illidan, I will escape soon, and I will see you dead for all you have done and what you have unleashed on this world because of your corrupted desires. It may not be today or the day after in this damned world, but it will come soon."

Illidan laughed at that and replied very calmly but mockingly as well.

"That will be very good to see in this case, and if you do escape dear Maiev, I shall be waiting for you and we shall soon settle this old chase. And soon, we shall see who among us will be favored and who will finally be released from our personal prison."

With that Illidan left the place, leaving to take his time to prepare for what was soon to come, this allowed Maiev to relax a bit but she turned to glare at Akama as she spoke once again once it was clear that Illidan was no longer anywhere near the two of them.

"How much longer must I wait Akama? You swore to me that you will help me take my vengeance on Illidan once his guard was down! I will not have you lie to me Broken One!"

"I have not lied to you Maiev Shadowsong, you will have your chance but Illidan is too cautious and he will not be easily caught off guard. Once he has lowered his full guard, then the time is right. I cannot act now for his other lieutenants watch over me, I will need allies to free you and take the fight to Illidan."

Maiev growled deeply at that but he also knew that the Broken Draenei had a point, he was indeed being watched and that would prevent him from freeing her directly, all they could do was wait and plan. But her fury from Illidan's recent visit was not fully abated so she spoke with the same fury and venom as before.

"Pray that the day that your hoped for allies come here does comes Akama, I will not remain idle for long. Illidan will die by no ones hand but mine!"

Akama nodded and while he could have retorted against Maiev, he did not do so since she was his ally and she had every reason to try and strike at Illidan for all the things that had happened to her. He knew that despite his plan to overthrow his former ally, Illidan was right in what he had said to Maiev. She was indeed blinded by her desire for revenge and that was how she was captured in the first place, but this also made her focused and determined.

He turned away and decided to plan and wait for the right time, hoping that soon, the Light would be able to bring the allies he was hoping for who would be able to help the two of them to end Illidan's hold over the land. His plans to finally cleanse the Black Temple of all darkness and restore it to the glory it once possessed had not faded even after so many years of being like this, and when it came to pass, he would spend whatever time left in his old form to make those plans become reality.

As for Maive, she ignored the Broken Draenei who was her warden and unknown ally for now, all she thought of was to finally be free, to hold her chosen Moon Sword in hand once more, cut down all who stood in her path, and finally finish what was between her and Illidan, that was all that she could do and she was going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

…

.Back in Shattrath City…

The Spartan decided to take the MJOLNIR to a private changing room and it took at least two strong and well trained Draenei warriors from the City Guard to carry the large table that held his now fully changed his Armor. He repeated the very same methods of placing the MJOLNIR on his body.

As soon as he got the Armor on as well as his helmet and it went back to full operational status, he began to run some tests in the BIOS to see if anything had been altered. So far it seemed to be very much working in order and that was a good thing, making spare parts for the MJOLNIR was expensive and very intense and he had doubts that the Dawn had the necessary equipment for such a task even with the supplies on hand. Once the BIOS gave him the signal that everything was working in the software suites, he went to work on the rest of the systems that were needed.

The MJOLNIR seemed to be working fine and his sensors were up to the situation and he took the chop that held Cortana and placed her into him. The feeling of ice cold water flowing down his spine told him that Cortana was now in his mind and she spoke in a very nice fashion.

"Well now…it seems that everything is working all right."

"How are you feeling Cortana?"

"I'm okay, though the new energy from the crystals and the inscriptions seems a bit different from what I am normally used to."

"Is it bad?"

"Not at all, it feels…rather warm, and I feel safe as well as ready for anything. Anyway, let's get some things over and done with, we have a lot to take care of and we still need to find a way to transport our supplies and equipment around here in this world."

John nodded in agreement and they were soon running the usual tests. Once that was done, he went back to A'dal and Khagdar so the three of them could get to finding out a solution. He also needed to get as much information that he was going to be able to his hands on. This world was unlike anything he had seen and he knew that getting every bit of information that he could was going to be the key to his and the group's survival as well as Cortana.

…

Two weeks later…

John moved ahead of the rest of the group he was leading since he had to scout to make sure that their trip was not going to lead them into a trap. The place known to many as Outland was not the least bit welcoming, and he had no idea of the place so he had to be extra careful. One thing he learned during the UNSC-Covenant War was to be ready for anything, and he was not taking chances. This world was undeniably alien to him and the dangers were just as relentless.

He was not alone either as Kaelyn and Erin were around as well with the two elven women serving as support while the others followed. Before they left the city, A'dal had warned them that with the presence of the Blood Elves on Draenor and Illidan's actions, the world's delicate balance was not going to be stable for long and as such, they had to be ready for anything that was to happen. The various forms of life in this place was hostile to some extent and there had been more than a fair share of battles that he and his group had to deal with.

In an effort to be able to have their supplies and gear on hand for anything without any UNSC transport a massive cart was brought along. This was no ordinary cart as it was made from enchanted ironwood and reinforced by bands of enchanted mithril. The cart was able to move without labor animals as the inscriptions were able to make a field that was in Cortana's words the magical version of the anti-gravity. This impressed John a great deal as this solved the transport problem and since it was able to be guided easily enough, that eased his mind. The cart was very strong and sturdy and therefore could carry the things that he would be needed. It was also rather massive, almost as big as a UNSC Elephant and was wide as three Elephants that were side by side and as long as three Elephants placed end to end.

It would also serve as a form of transport as it could actually carry him and the others in both groups should they go into the air. Normally the best way to move around in this ruined and transformed world was with airborne transportation which was with Gryphons and Giant Bats, but considering that they had forces from the Horde and the Alliance, there was a considerable amount of risk if the people in the towns saw them, plus it would be rather expensive to pay for the transportation and the supplies.

This was why they decided that once they were at the edge of the landmasses that floated around, then they would use the massive cart as a form of airship as there were specially enchanted and reinforced leather bags that could be filled with magically gathered gases that could be used to lift the cart loaded with the supplies, equipment, and everyone in it. This in turn would make the cart become a form of airship with the magical enchantments. And while it would be seen as risky, they were going to be ready to defend themselves and their Red Dragon companion. Marlyn would then leave the airship/cart and transform into her full form to fight the airborne threats with them supporting her with magic and their ranged weapons.

Once they were on the next landmass and Marlyn would tell them that it was indeed safe to land on the landmass, they would land, deflate the bags, store them away and repeat the process and avoid attracting the attention from the two factions.

Before they left once the cart/airship was finished, John decided to allow the two groups to gather anything else they would need, namely camping equipment as well as tents and other camping supplies. The massive cart would serve as their source of supplies and as such it was to be protected by everyone who was not scouting about ahead of the main party while any supplies that could be carried on the back was carried on the back.

A'dal was pleased and gave all of them the blessing of his own people, and that included not just the Alliance members of the Spartan's group but the Horde as well. And while there was no doubt in John's mind that not all of the Horde members were not into being blessed by a being not of their own faith, the blessing was very much welcome.

And now here they were and the first two weeks of their travel through the lands of Draenor, they had landed on what was called the Hellfire Peninsula. John had read the records that Khagdar had given him and Cortana so they both would know what the place was. Apparently the Hellfire Peninsula was the site were some of the most brutal battles between the Alliance and old Horde had taken place long ago.

This place was supposedly once a lush and verdant world and even the Draenei in his group and that of the residents of Shattrath City, but because of the corruption and curse placed on the Horde by the Legion, the world had changed. And now it was like this, a barren and hellish world that was hostile in such a level that John and Cortana could not help but feel that once they showed the UNSC HIGHCOM these images and videos, there was going to a lot of things that would make it interesting. And he could bet that the Covenant Separatists were also going to be curious about it all as well.

They were also aware that soon they were going to be nearing the location where the Alliance had a very well defended town/city in this place. The one place called Honor Hold and that would be their destination to get more information and also get more maps to work with.

As they moved on, John and the scouting party were not spotting any creatures and hostile forces, and that was something that they were happy for. The creatures and beings that called this utterly alien and hostile world were unlike anything the Spartan II and the A.I had ever seen before, and it was not easy to feel a bit unnerved at times by the sights. Spartan IIs were not thwe kind to be easily frightened or stressed out due to their training and experiences, but being in this place was not a normal thing. That frame of mind was balanced out in John's mind by the company that he kept. And naturally, there were times that they had no choice but to fight when they encountered hostile creatures that were the kind one associated with living things, and the others were the ones associated with those that came from one's nightmares.

A good number of the attackers were demons of the weaker variety and they served to show the strength of the Light magic enhanced weapons given to John. He was thankful that the weapons he had were more than able to help him in battling the creatures but he was not going to relax just yet. They still had to be tested against more powerful creatures and until that happened, he was not going to be complacent with them.

Once the day was close to what would qualify as night time and they were not under attack by the hostiles that called Outland home, they would hunker down, set up a perimeter, and watch in shifts to make sure that they were not suddenly blind sided. Marlyn was not allowed to transform into her true form since the appearance of a Red Dragon was going to cause a commotion and attract attention. Therefore the teams worked in a shit of at least four, two from the Alliance representatives, and two from the Horde. They would move around and when their shift was over, the next four would wake up and do the next shift.

John usually the one who did not take as much sleep as he would be along with the ones moving around the perimeter to support them, as well as keep the peace between the group. Despite the long times the two sides had spent together in his base of operations, he doubted that the old hatreds that had been there were just going to disappear right away. And if they did crop up, he would be ready to stop them if things got out of hand.

It was going to be at least another week or so before they reached Honor Hold, and that was something that was a bit of a concern.

…

Two and a half weeks later…

Going into an Alliance held town was normally not too much trouble, but that distinction only applied to those who were part of the Alliance. John knew this and there was no doubt in his mind that the Horde members of his group were not going to be easily welcomed. And considering what he had learned and seen for himself of this land, there was no doubt in his mind that the guards in this place were not too trusting of strangers, and were going to be downright hostile to the Horde.

And no doubt the same could be said if they were to go into a Horde controlled town in this place known as Draenor, which was why he spoke to the two factions to come up with a plan. They managed to agree that if they were near an Alliance held town, then the faction from the Horde…to avoid being attacked or harmed were to stay at least a three day's travel distance on foot away from the said town until the rest of them came back. That very same rule applied to the Alliance faction if they came to a Horde held town and hopefully that would help keep things from escalating to the stage where things could go very bad very quickly.

This was put to the test when they were now reaching the outer areas of what appeared to be an Alliance held town and was called Honor Hold no less. That much could be seen by the keen eyed members of the group as well as the Spartan as soon as they arrived on the outskirts at least several weeks after leaving the landmass of Shattrath City and landing in this place known as the Hellfire Peninsula. He turned to Erin and told her that she would have to be in charge of the camp for now and help keep the peace between the other factions. That was a considerable act as this left the Blood Elf rogue/mage a great deal of responsibility and everyone knew it. Erin nodded but not before giving a warning glare at the two female Night Elves who she knew were going to be rather ecstatic that she and the others were not going to be around.

Kaelyn and Sandra feigned innocence as they smiled back at Erin though Sandra was a lot more obvious about it, angering the Blood Elf but she kept herself cool to make sure she did not seem ungrateful to the Spartan who was still there before her. Cortana on the other hand knew already that there was a lot of tension there between the ladies and she was as amused as ever at these events. If any f the UNSC personnel and even Dr. Halsey found out that John was now being fought over by several undeniably attractive but totally alien humanoid females, they would have busted a gut. Johnson himself would have laughed a great deal at this and wished he had a camera drone to record all this.

John ignored that and gave the Blood Elf a communication device so that she could report anything that would happen straight to him. She thanked him for it and therefore that eased the situation a bit, but naturally she was still giving her rivals the evil eye whenever she could as the Spartan and the Alliance members were now getting ready to move out.

Erin naturally took relief in the fact that when they came to a Horde held location, then the situation was going to be reversed, and she had every intention to make the most of such a situation.

…

John and the Alliance group moved ahead of the rest and soon as they approached the Alliance held town of Honor Hold they were greeted by a number of Footmen as well as High Elven Archers and Dwarven Riflemen who looked at the Spartan warily as they had no idea just who or rather what he was. Though thankfully they didn't try to attack him as they were able to see that he was under considerable Alliance escort and as such was not someone who was a danger to the town that they held watch over. After some time the group were allowed to enter Honor Hold.

As soon as they were into the town, the collected members of the Alliance contingent were relived for different reasons as they looked at the town that they were in. It was like any other town though more in line with Stormwind due to the location it was in and the need to be prepared for any and all possible assaults.

John looked the place over and decided that heading to the town hall was first in his mind to see if there was a way to see of the Alliance was making a move in getting ready for the actions of the Blood Elves on the side of Kael'thas. It was something of a long shot but it was far better than doing nothing. He was not alone either as Dana, Kaelyn, Sandra who was accompanied by her pet wolf, and Talia were willing to join him while the others decided to do their own thing for the time being.

He naturally was ready for anything and if his group was in trouble, he would be ready to intervene if needed.

The Spartan was carrying his trusted MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle though this was the one that was made from Mithril and had the True Silver Anti-magic rounds and this was one of the few weapons that had not been enchanted by A'dal. There was also a BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle on his back which was also made from Mithril and had the same True Silver Anti-Magic rounds as before. And he had a pair of his Combat Knives at the ready if he needed them.

He and his escorts were already getting attention from the residents and a number of the guards as well. The looks of surprise and confusion directed towards him and his gear was something he was able to expect and ignore, but he was aware that there were also looks directed to his escorts. A good number of the men there were thankfully the respectful type and did not make too many comments, but there were those who gave the females a series of looks that were not too polite.

John knew that it had to be expected but when he was able to hear some of the male residents speaking lewdly towards Kaelyn and Sandra due to their garb, he could not help but look at their direction. He said nothing and revealed nothing but his unspoken warning was not something that one would or could ignore as the men looked away.

…

The meeting with the people responsible for the operation of the town of Honor Hold was not too productive but not too bad either. The latest news was not too bad in most situations, so far there was no activity that warranted the town to fortify their location or was it under attack by any of Kael'thas' forces or Illidan's for that matter. But that did not mean that John was going to relax either as he knew that with what was going on, things were about to change and he doubted that everyone was going to like it.

Once they left the town hall of Honor Hold, John decided to go to the tavern as he had a feeling that he might get more information from the bartender tavern. He knew that traffic in towns were a lot more focused where the tavern was. As he and the others went there, it was not long before they arrived at the tavern. The second that he and the others walked in, the patrons who were there turned to look at them.

John ignored them and headed to a corner of the tavern and began to look for a place where he could properly sit down and not worry about the chairs breaking apart. He found one and as soon as he sat down, the four others in his group sat down next to him. Kaelyn and Sandra placed aside their bows while Dana placed her sword and shield aside, and Talia placed her staff aside as well. They were eager to have a properly made meal and have something to drink that was cool and fresh.

It was not going to be long before they were greeted by the bartender and the burly man gave a nod to the Spartan and his companions.

"Good to mean all of you today…I am the Innkeeper and this here is my slice of heaven in this messed up world that we know as Outland, you need something?"

Kaelyn nodded and replied.

"Food would be nice."

The man nodded and replied.

"Food and drink coming up, let me send you a menu with one of my workers here to take your order."

The man left and soon a male dwarf who wore the usual clothes that were those of a civilian along with an apron came to them and had a block of wood that had some paper on it as well as another bit of wood along with what appeared to be a bottle of ink on his side and a feather pen on the other. He gave the ladies a smile and a slight bow of greetings to John as he handed them the menu.

"Here ya all go, that's the menu for the day, you have any questions about what you want to eat, feel free to ask them."

After a while, the ladies made their orders and John did likewise and soon the Dwarf was off to get the orders done, This allowed John to keep himself occupied with plans and how to find the Orc that they were looking for, they had a general idea of where he was at least and that was in the place called Shadow Moon Valley.

He had asked of the location, but many of the people were not too keen on speaking too much about the place, which was more than enough to tell John that the place in question was hardly a good place to be. He then decided to reach for the special communications unit that he had which had it's twin device with Erin, he knew that he needed to check up on the camp and see how it was getting itself set up.

He placed the device to his ear and spoke to it.

"Erin, can you hear me?"

…

In the encampment…

It had been hours since the Horde representatives had placed camp and already it seemed that things were calming down. Erin, Tannis and Janna were busy taking shifts around the perimeter while the others were busy doing their own works. The Tauren were also helping around though the Blood Elf Rogue/Mage noted that their Druid was not showing a good deal of comfort in the area. She knew why and truth be told, she couldn't find any fault in it.

This was the first time she had ever set foot in this place, before the Third war broke out, she and many others heard stories about the Alliance Expedition that came into this world to try and pursue the old Horde to stop whatever it was that they were doing. And most if not all of the stories she heard had little good to say of this place. The land felt wrong, the wind felt wrong, the water looked wrong, in fact the whole feeling of the place was wrong. She did feel a large amount of Fel Magic over the place though and it had been hard to not feel her people's hunger for magic react to the place.

She could easily see why those who followed Kael'thas would find this place appealing…but to her, after what she had seen back in Silvermoon City, all she could feel was fear and disgust. The idea of becoming a monster and an addict to the power of Fel Magic sickened her a good deal and that was why despite the craving speaking gently to her in honeyed tones, she closed her mind to it.

She then heard the communicator device beep, telling her that she was getting a call from someone, who she knew of already and that buoyed her spirits as she took it and spoke as soon as she heard John's voice.

"Spartan, we're here."

"How is the camp doing?"

"All right thus far, no sign of danger but we're not taking any chances here as well, there's no telling what else we are going to encounter here."

"Any Alliance patrols found you and the others?"

"None so far and for that we're very thankful, but we're still keeping watch."

"Good, remember, keep out of sight and do not engage, move if you have to but keep in touch and inform us of the new location."

"I understand, we'll handle things here and the very second we see anything, we will call you and handle it as best we can."

"Understood, Spartan-117 out."

As she placed the device down, the Blood Elf Rogue/Mage spoke to Tannis and Janna to look about the camp as well as do some long range work. That was right into the Farstrider's alley as it were and he was more than ready for it.

…

Back in the Inn…

John sighed as he placed the device away as the orders that were made by his companions arrived, he allowed them to eat as they were no doubt in the mood for some properly prepared meals that were not only under a solid roof, but well away from their Horde counterparts. John looked around the area of the Inn to see if there was anyone in the Inn that would be considered as either an ally or an enemy. That would sound odd but John was not going to take chances at all with the world that they were in.

As the others were eating their food, the Spartan himself decided to grab some of his own food and that included some roasted beef with some vegetables as well as a few apples and bananas. The food was indeed worth the time and effort to buy as he placed out a purse of gold, silver, and copper coins to pay for the meal. The Dwarf waiter nodded and took the purse and headed off to give the payment to his boss, the Spartan began to relax a bit while keeping an eye out. The rest of his group were currently doing what they needed to do and wanted to do. This included repairing their weapons and armor which was needed since they had spent days traveling and fighting against the creatures and unnatural beings that called this place their home. There were some injuries and while they did have healers in their group and supplies, the battles had been taxing and more than once, some nearly bit the dust.

But thankfully they were able to make it all out through the trip and now it was time to recover and stock up on what they needed. They would even buy some new weapons as well to replace those that were too broken to be repaired. Kaelyn herself mentioned that she might have to get some new arrows as well as have her bow repaired as well as her armor. Sandra was in the same boat as well as buying some new food for her wolf pet who was currently chewing up the large hunk of lamb that was given to it to feast on.

The Night Elves were not the only ones as Talia and the other magic users of the group needed to buy more mana potions as well as healing potions along with other ingredients that they would need for reagents or for crafting work. The other warriors were also gathering what supplies they would need for their own needs as well, this included arrows, bolts, bullets, gunpowder, metal bars, smithy tools, and whatnot. There was no telling how long it was going to take before they were going to get what they needed so no sense not stocking up.

…

Cortana was silent for the time being as her guardian and long time friend was eating as she was compiling the data that she had gathered on their trip here. One thing was certain to her, and that was it was going to be something that she was sure Dr. Halsey was going to study intensely for a very long time.

John was able to drink half of the grape juice that he had when he heard a beeping from the communication device, he looked briefly at it and took it up and spoke to it.

"Erin, go ahead."

"I have just spotted a very large number of people heading to Honor Hold, all well equipped and well armed."

That got the attention of the Spartan easily enough and he was now all business and that was something that did not escape the notice of the ones with him as Kaelyn, Sandra, Dana, and Talia looked at him, waiting for him to tell them what was going on. John remained calm as he focused on getting more details.

"Do they have any markings?"

"Yeah, and they appear to be that of the Alliance, not too big to be an army, but not your average sized group either, I get the feeling that this must be some sort of guild from the Alliance."

"A Guild? What sort of members do they have?"

"A good number of Warriors, some Hunters, a few Rogues, a good number of Mages, a good number of Priests, a few Warlocks, and a few Paladins. All of them have tabards of a sort and all of them are definitely organized and appear to be moving as a whole. They appear to be heading for Honor Hold too, so don't be the least bit surprised if Honor Hold is going to be filled up very quickly."

"And exactly who are the races in this party that you have spotted?"

"Mostly Humans, a few Night Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and a few Draenei as well, that means that all of them are Alliance members and are not going to be a danger to Honor Hold. I'll admit that it was a good move to have us camp out here instead of waiting for you and the others, if they caught us in the open, we would be in real trouble."

"Are they sending out any scouts?"

"No, but I can see that a good number of them appear to have some wounded, no doubt from the battles they had in coming here from the Dark Portal. They no doubt are going to be in Honor Hold in a few hours and that is where things are going to be interesting."

John nodded at that while back at the Inn and spoke to Erin.

"All right, make sure to keep a good watch, if it comes to it, move out of the area and keep away from Honor Hold until we got to your location. Avoid any and all contact with them as best you can."

"Understood."

As he placed down the communication device, the Spartan told the others what had happened and thankfully there were not too many people who were close to hear his words. The Master Chief also made sure to remind that that if they neared a Horde controlled location, they would have to get ready to do the same thing and camp outside of the town's sight range and that of it's defenders to avoid being attacked by them while defending themselves if they are attacked. Kaelyn and the others nodded at that and it helped ease the situation before them, but it was not going to be long before something else was going to happen in the town, or rather in the Inn.

A large number of adventurers came into the Inn and a good number of them happened to be human men and women along with a scattering of Night Elves who were male and female and a pair of male Draenei who appeared to be Warriors. John watched them and did so carefully so as not to attract attention to himself and the others as well. Once their meal was over, the five of them took the time to relax and then move out to meet with the rest of their group.

This allowed John who carried his helmet for the time being to spot their coat of arms as it were. It was a Lion roaring with two swords in the background as well as a shield, with a pair of spears crossed over with a hammer on the back as well. John decided to keep that on record as he and his group moved out. However one of the armed men who apparently had gotten rather drunk had spotted Kaelyn and was smiling lecherously at her direction and he soon spoke to the Night Elf.

"Hey there gorgeous, care to share a drink with me?"

Kaelyn looked at the man, who despite not looking bad in the least was not the kind of person she was interested in. That was why she shook her head and replied.

"No, I have other things to deal with."

The man grinned at that and stood up, and headed to Kaelyn's direction and began to speak in a drunken state.

"Don't be like that miss, I'm sure that I can't be that bad for company, I can even help you and your other friends as well…come on."

Kaelyn frowned at that and was about to reply in a more forceful tone to stop the man but that was when John stepped in, deeply glaring at the man while remaining calm.

"Back off and sober up soldier."

The man turned and glared at the Spartan and quickly all activity in the Inn ceased as everyone turned to look at what was going to unfold before the two men. The drunk soldier then spoke to the Spartan while glaring darkly at him.

"Who the in name of the Light are you anyway? I've got no business with you, just with the pretty lady."

John did not back down in the least and replied calmly.

"She happens to be part of my group soldier and a trusted ally of mine, so it is my business. She refused you and as a man of honor you should accept that refusal. Do that and we won't have a problem, don't and then we will have one right here and right now."

It looks like John was about to step into some hot water, there was only question in the standoff in the minds of everyone in the Inn.

Who was going to back down first or throw the very first punch?

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Not too long and not too short, hopefully good enough for now despite the fact this story is about to go into the freezer.

Well, this officially is the latest chapter to be placed into the story and I hope that it will be enough for all the readers who are here right now. It's been a while since my last update and I hope that I will be forgiven for that, due to so many things happening, in fanfiction and in real life, I did not have much free time on my hands.

Anyway, I hope that the upgrades done by A'dal will be enough to satisfy most readers, I don't think that everyone will be happy with it, but those were the best I could work with without it being too uber powerful since I like it better that the Spartan has challenges for a change, and fighting the Burning Legion's forces would be worth it. Remember, that these are REAL demons and as such are not what John is used to fighting so those upgrades and enchantments are going to be key in giving him a fighting edge.

…

Now on the rest of this arc, I will be working on researching the material relating to the Cipher of Damnation quest in the Burning Crusade to make sure that this mission is authentic and not sounding cheesy. The last battle John had reveals that Demon Blood can be used by the Blood Elves to augment their powers so that is why he was hit hard since the Demon Blood works in the same way as a narcotic booster and like that Rumble-drug that is in UNSC lore.

Once that mission is over, John will recover and begin working with other heroes who will be fighting the Burning Crusade. This means that I will have to include a number of new faces but these will not be part of John's team but those who are like the players in the WOW games.

This means that right now, I am eager to get name suggestions for groups to be in the story, for any WOW players who are in this website as well as members of any guild former or current, if you have any names for parties from the Alliance or the Horde that will be similar to the guilds you yourselves join in the quest-lines of the Burning Crusade, feel free to PM me their names and how many members.

Naturally I will be wanting their classes, names, gender, and race but try not to give me a large army right off the bat. This arc will be the largest arc of this story ever so this will be very hard to update. So much so that I will need help in making this worthy of the Burning Crusade expansion and therefore I am making these requests. I will do my research and make sure to keep things as good as I can make them but it will not be easy.

Just don't expect me to make a large number of parties okay, I will have a hell of a time updating this story if I wind up having one party too many to work with here and that will also adversely affect the quality of my stories and I know no one wants that to happen at all and that will come back to bite me in the butt…so spare me that and keep it simple.

…

As for the lemons that I promised, they will appear after several more chapters once the Burning Crusade Arc is over. Who will be there with the Chief when the lights turn down and things get…frisky, will be still up for debate so I request for more suggestions. I have thrown away the fling idea since it might be offensive to some and therefore the harem idea is still present though I am working on it. But do not expect John to be in bed with ALL of his female companions…as tempting as that is to even me, John is NOT that kind of person and it would be rather bad to me as well.

Keep in mind that I did state that there will be some of the female characters who will be having partners of their own of the opposite gender or…the same (depends on me) gender so don't expect ALL the female members from the Alliance and Horde representatives to jump the Spartan's bones all at the same time. They will have their own times together and if there are Jaina fans in here, I will state that she will be one of them but only after several situations that will allow her and John to get to know one another and be able to be more open to one another. Do not expect her and John to just jump into bed and get it own for no reason whatsoever, as Jaina is a lady of high standing and she does not have a long history with the Master Chief.

Hopefully with that out of the way, I can work and do my best for this story and when I do make the lemons of this fic…I hope that I can do my best for all you guys who happen to like the beautiful ladies of the Alliance and the Horde and no doubt had ideas about that have less to do with conversation. It's been a while since I did a lemon scene so I will have to get some practice in once more before I do lemon scenes for this story.

…

Anyway, this is the final update for now and as you can guess, this story is now officially on ice, as well as all of my Halo stories. I will be working on my other stories, namely my Naruto ones so expect some updates in them since I plan to stick to a schedule on how many chapters that I can make for the stories…yes that includes the lemon stories too.

God I am going to be swamped…

But that's the breaks I guess so no sense complaining. I will be taking a break before doing the work on my Naruto fics as well as the ones which are not related to either Naruto or Halo. Plus I have already reached the ending mark for a Naruto/Justice League fanfic, but when that will be posted is not going to be announced…and I will not be updating my latest creation of Fallout New Vegas: The two Brotherhoods either, so don't ask me about them.

I hope that the part with Maiev, Illidan, and Akama will be enough for now, and if you ask me if John will end up helping the imprisoned Warden and the scheming Broken Draenei, then I will have to say this much.

What do you think?

And what will be the outcome of the face off between John and this drunken Alliance soldier who has his own group with him in the Inn? Will John sober him up with a dressing down after knocking him out? Will his party come in to stop him from causing trouble due to him being drunk? Or will they decide to get involved to help their partner and unknowingly or knowingly get into the bad side of the Master Chief.

And will this same event happen once John and company are in a Horde controlled town and encounter another adventuring group and wind up in the very same mess that John and the others of the Alliance group happen to be in right now?

You will just have to wait and see now won't you all?

That is all and I hope to see you once I am feeling up to the task of updating what is what I considered as my most ambitious sci-fi/fantasy crossover to date using Halo as the other half of this whole story. I might make a new one, but the only question will be what world I will use the next time I do something like this.

Bye!

…

And for those who are now interested in the Naruto/Justice League story of mine…here is a trailer that I hope will show that while this story will not be updated all the time, it will still be updated as I feel that it is a very interesting story.

Trailer:

Okay, okay, I give up."

Superman wasted little time as he knew that they had to hurry since he knew that the longer this went on, the higher the chance Aquaman would pack up and leave and make the situation worse for himself and his people despite the fact that he was merely doing what he felt was right for his people.

"You were trying to kill Aquaman, why?"

Deadshot decided to take the more sarcastic route in this matter as the others arrived though John was a bit late.

"Oh, that's a good question there. Why would a hired gun try to kill someone? Simple, I was paid to do it."

Superman was quick to get the sarcasm, but ignored it for now as they were joined by J'onn, Diana, Batman, and Naruto himself. Diana was the next one to ask, though her question was more focused on finding out who had paid Deadshot.

"Who paid you to kill Aquaman then?"

Deadshot looked at Diana and could help but mentally whistle at the very attractive Amazon princess as he recognized her voice as the one who tried to stop him before. She was drop dead gorgeous and must be one hell of a woman in more ways than one. That train of thought was enough to encourage Deadshot to try his luck as he decided to make a few comments.

"Now come on babe, you know I won't tell you…although, if you make it worth my while."

Diana frowned darkly at the implication in the man's voice, after all she had heard that before from many men who had less than noble intentions towards her ever since she had begun to settle in to learn more of the world of men. However, she knew that unless they got the information from the man, then she could not make him retract that particular statement.

Unfortunately for Deadshot, his choice of words did not sit well with the former Hokage of Konoha who appeared next to him after dealing with the fire in the man's truck to prevent the ordnance from going boom. He had developed a good deal of respect for Diana and truth be told, he found her just as attractive as anyone else and he would be lying to himself if he said that he had not been thinking of the Amazon Princess in a perverted fashion alongside Hawkgirl.

But his marriages with the women in his life and his time with them had taught him to respect women and also made him more than willing to show a more ugly side of himself if they were insulted for no reason. Besides, despite the mask the assassin had on, Naruto knew that perverted look as he had seen it more than once on his godfather's face and on his own as well.

He turned to Superman and replied.

"You mind if I take over Superman, maybe I can get some answers out of him."

Superman looked at Naruto and nodded slowly as he moved away while the blonde Shinobi went forward to get to work on getting some answers, a plan already in mind. Deadshot looked at the blonde Shinobi and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"So the blonde ninja wannabe thinks he can make little me talk eh? What are you going to do anyway blondie?"

Deadshot had NO idea that he was going to regret those words as Naruto grinned at him, but this grin had very malevolent intent in it.

"Funny you should ask."

Before Deadshot could reply, Naruto charged right into him and slammed a powerful punch into Deadshot's stomach. That made the man keel over though Naruto kept his punch at low strength. The assassin looked at him and swore.

"What t-the hell…was that for, shouldn't you be…"

SLAP!

Naruto slapped the assassin twice and before Deadshot could shout again, Naruto quickly took out a Senbon, coated it in Wind Chakra, and stabbed it into Deadshot's left thigh, making the mercenary scream in pain.

"AAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!"

The man glared hatefully at Naruto and spoke out.

"Wh-what the fuck are…"

Naruto pushed the Senbon deeper and that shut Deadshot up as Naruto then used another element.

"Raiton!"

Deadshot felt his body twitch and his nerves tingle in the way of telling him that he had been shocked by electricity. He looked in intense pain at Naruto as the blonde spoke seriously.

"Now that I have your undivided attention, let me make some things clear. The first is that I normally don't do this to anyone unless they have done something to royally piss me off, and you have done just that. Second, the Senbon needle is now in the bone and near some of your nerves, which explains why it hurts like a kick to the balls. And third, what I used on you is called Raiton, or Lightning Release, this allows me to control lightning to a degree to make certain techniques possible, and it took me years to learn how to do it. There's just a catch, you see the ones who do have shall we say…an affinity to Lightning can have a far better level of control than those who don't have it."

Naruto then fired another bolt, only this time it was stronger, making Deadshot groan in pain as the lightning played on his nerves and the bone as well. Naruto grinned even more and replied in a very serious tone.

"And unfortunately for you, I am one of them, and due to the fact that the only reason I can use lightning is through my self control, being in control of my temper is vital, and my temper right now is rather testy because of the crap you pulled. In simple terms, the more you piss me off, the more of my self control I lose, and with that being lost then I will not be able to control just how much voltage will be sent into you. So, I can either give enough lightning into this Senbon to give you a mild shock, or I can send enough to turn you into a human sized and shaped pot roast. Now, either you tell us who hired you and I will stop, or you don't and I amp up the voltage until you do, piss me off with crap and insults, I will double the charge until I cook you alive in your own juices. What's going to be Deadshot, tell us what we need and live? Or I shock you until you become a living lightning rod and a human shaped pot roast?"

…

How is that?


	21. Chapter 21

World of Warcraft X Halo

Disclaimer: I don't have ownership rights to Bungie or Blizzard, so stop breathing down my neck about it.

Chapter 20

Part 1

Old Regrets…

( ): Thoughts

…

In the Inn…

The standoff went on for a while longer between John and the drunken Alliance soldier that tried to make a pass at Kaelyn earlier. The man's fellow guild members were ready to move to their comrade's defense and John knew it. Fighting this many people was not new to him as he had faced many odds since then, but he knew that fighting here was not a good idea. There was always a chance that word of the fight would reach the attention of the Alliance back in Azeroth and that was something he was not in the mood for.

He did not feel the Alliance High Command and it's leaders all that much since he was a neutral party, but he knew that going into a fight was not a wise idea. And that was why he was hoping that the man before him would finally get it into his ale addled brain to leave well enough alone, though judging from the smell of the man's breath, he was not going to count heavily on that. The standoff would have continued had the man decided to end it and strike out in a drunken fury at the Spartan.

"Stay away from this you bastard!"

The man lashed out with a fist but John casually knocked it aside and struck at a nerve cluster at the neck area that was going to send the man to unconsciousness. Once he struck that spot in the way that he was taught, the effects were there as he fell down on the ground in a clash of armor. That was more than enough to have the others reach for their weapons until a male Dwarf wearing some of the most outlandish but fully utilitarian armor he had ever seen got between him and the other Alliance troops. The man carried a massive one handed warhammer and also a large one bladed axe and spoke sternly to the men under his apparent command.

"This is enough, all of ya simmer down and get back to yer drinks!"

The soldiers under the dwarf's command looked at their leader and decided not to counter their leader's command. They moved away and placed away their weapons and two of them helped get their unconscious friend though John noted that one of the people in the guild, a High Elf Mage looked at him with a slightly dark stare and directed a slightly annoyed look at Kaelyn. That told him that just maybe the woman was someone who had some attraction to the man that he had managed to take down. He did not bother with those details as he was now facing the leader of the group who was now also looking right at him.

The dwarf soon spoke to him and while he seemed relaxed, the Spartan could hear the tone of wariness in his voice.

"I have to apologize for da mess ya had to deal with laddie, but ya have to excuse my men at times, hours of trudging through this blasted land and fighting through all the demons and monsters that call this place home ain't exactly conducive to calm tempers."

John could see that the dwarf was sincere, at least he could tell he was sincere since he was no expert on dwarven expressions and attitudes.

"Fair enough."

"I heard of ya laddie, the Spartan as they call ya back on ol Ironforge when I was last there, and the stories about ya seem to be fairly accurate considerin how tall ye happen ta be, I never thought I'd be running into ya myself. The name's Koran, Koran Steel Pike, leader of the Gryphon Raiders, hard to believe ya would be here in this Light forsaken wastelands. What brings ya here and your companions?"

John thought it over and decided to inform Koran of his reasons, and it was obvious the Dwarf was interested as he rubbed his beard and listened to the tail carefully. As soon as it was over, the Dwarf spoke seriously.

"That's quite the tale, strange that Prince Kael'thas would willingly side with the Burning Legion of all things. The Blood Elves weren't always bad, but that blasted racist Human Marshal just made things worse, and the rest of his lackeys too. And now they're with the Horde, but this is something I did not expect, let alone hear about since news in this part of Alliance held land is pretty scarce right now. I take it the Horde's up and arms over this?"

"Pretty much."

"Can't say I blame them, unlike the others of my kin, I respect them High Elves, lost count of the times they saved my hide back in the Second and Third war. No matter what name they us or flag they fly, I ain't going to forget the ones who gave their lives for the right cause and the right reasons. So you got dragged into this of yer own choice eh?"

"Yes, if the Legion win, then nowhere in this world is safe."

"True, but hard to believe you work with both Horde and Alliance…takes a lot of balls to keep both sides from tryin to go at each other's throats on the first try ain't it?"

"It does."

"Ya got my respect laddie, if ya can keep em from killin one another with things as they are right now, then ya deserve a bloody medal for yer trouble, anyways, I'll make sure that my men leave ye and yer friends alone for the time yer party are here. "

John nodded at that and soon he and the others of his group left the tavern to do some looking around and he also wanted to ask how the others were doing. Though it was clear that he was going to have to check on Kaelyn to see how she was handling herself. He knew that she was more than able to handle herself but he was not sure that wasting her energy on a drunken soldier was going help. Not to mention he wanted to make sure that she did not injure herself which could very well hinder her or weaken her on the off chance they would have to fight the things that happened to call this land home….or if an inherently hostile band of Horde members decided to attack them when they least expected it.

…

Later…

Kaelyn looked at John and could not help but feel some measure of happiness in her, he had stood up for her and defended her from a very rowdy drunk with less than noble thoughts towards her. Part of her mind said that she was not some fragile maiden, she was a Sentinel who had fought in many wars and could handle herself just fine if she needed to. But that did not mean that she did not have any problem with John's actions as he was very sincere in his actions to keep the man away from her and that was something she enjoyed.

With that in mind she decided to speak to the Spartan once they were at her room in the Inn that they had been able to pay for. She had no plans to rest there just yet since the day was still fairly young and she had work of her own to do.

"Thank you for doing what you did back there."

John shrugged at that and replied honestly.

"The man was being too intrusive and I can tell that he needed to cool off, I am happy though that it did not become something that would have led to trouble."

Kaelyn nodded at that and was feeling pleased that she was not going to be bothered by anyone for now, she also felt happy that John had stood up for her as it reminded her of the time he had willingly stood before Fandral Staghelm when protecting Erin. The last thing she wanted was to be accosted by a drunkard who had less than altruistic intentions to her person even if by law she and he were to be on the same side. The Sentinel looked around the Hold and hoped that there was going to be a chance to finally get some much needed sleep before they moved towards the rest of the team.

Later, John took the time to find a person who had a map of the rest of the lands beyond Honor Hold. The map they had was only for the area around Shattrath City and the outlying territories. The rest of the land beyond it was still unknown and John knew that they were going to need all the data that they could get. On his side were Kaelyn and Sandra as well as Sandra's summoned pet. The three were a bit more relaxed and soon he managed to go to a nearby map maker and got the map he needed after paying the Gnomish map maker a good amount of silver coins and two gold ones as well. Most would have called such an action expensive and the Gnome was ripping the Spartan off.

But John cared little for the details for now as he took the map. He would look it over and allow Cortana to scan it while she was in his MJOLNIR's helmet. And once she was gathered the details she could make a 3D map for them to gain an even better sense of the lands. He also checked on Erin and was relieved that she had not reported anything that could be seen as a danger to the rest of the Horde members with him. The Blood Elf was a bit uneasy about the land she was in and he then informed her to take the time to meditate and not allow what she had seen to cloud her senses and her judgment.

Erin agreed and she wished him to be wary, even though he was in an Alliance town, she had no doubt that there would be trouble. He agreed but decided not to tell her about the altercation in the Inn earlier. The last thing he was in the mood for was friction between both sides over something that was in his mind a trivial matter.

As soon as things began to calm down, the Spartan began to relax a bit though he made sure to keep an eye on his MJOLNIR's motion sensors to make sure that there were no hostiles in the area around him. He also made sure to scan everyone with the special magic scanner to see if there were those who could be wielding demon fueled powers. He was soon taken to one sector of Honor Hold by Kaelyn as the Night Elf decided to see if she could find some spare supplies and also some new arrows for her to use in combat later on. The Spartan did not argue with the Sentinel and they were naturally followed by Sandra. They soon arrived at the market and headed for the place that dealt with weapons. John looked at the weapons and he could see that this place had quite an array of items that were useful. There were even old fashioned forms of bullets, no doubt for the various old style firearms he was looking at.

Kaelyn looked at the collection of arrows carefully and he could see that she was very critical in buying the best kind of arrows she would need for combat. Made sense to him quite easily since choosing the right arrows would be important for anyone to use if they were archers. Once she made her purchase she used her own money for that requirement. As she and John moved out they made their way to another blacksmith and she decided to check on her gear to see if they can be repaired since she did not want her gear to get too damaged for her to use when she needed them.

This time it was John who paid for the repairs and she was pleased that he was willing to do that for her. John was pleased to some extent that he did not waste too much of his funds since there was no telling what else he might need the money for. The armor she had was fully repaired and would be ready for use later when she would need it. As for the Night Elf in question she was hoping that she was going to make the most of their time here. This was balanced by the fact that she knew that they had a serious mission before them and this could play into something that would make things very dangerous back home.

As they left the area she looked around to get used to the sight of the land that was once home of the Orcs. The world made her feel very uneasy but she decided not to let it get to her as she followed John and she focused on doing her best to deal with the current mission that they were now part of even if this was not what they were supposed to be doing. But that did not mean that she was not going to try and spend some time to be with John himself as she privately recalled her own personal thoughts of a not so pure nature when it involved the Spartan II Commando as well. She had no plans to go THAT far but she did admit that she was not against the idea to be closer with the Spartan. She was however aware that she was not the least bit alone either since Sandra was there as well with them so she was going to be rather careful with what her plans were when it concerned a chance to be close to the Spartan.

…

As the pair moved about it was not long before they finally made it to a fountain park that was made in Honor Hold and the Spartan and the A.I were naturally surprised to see such a beautiful sight this far in the land of Outland, but at least there was something that would help lit the spirits of the people here. Kaelyn seemed to be very pleased as well by what she was looking at and she was moving forward to ouch the plants growing there and she enjoyed feeling the trees there before her.

John decided to observe the Night Elf in question and think back on how they had first met, if he was honest to himself, and he was, it was a good thing he met Kaelyn, since despite her…less than stellar first impressions of him he was willing to help him out and at least she was more or less accepting of his situation. Her skills and knowledge were very helpful and he had no doubt that having her helping him navigate his way in this world was a very wise decision. Though the constant teasing that Cortana gave him when it concerned the female Sentinel he could do without right now.

The teasing he could understand to a certain extent since in human respects, Kaelyn was very attractive and the clothing she had on at times could be quite the distraction. He had no doubt that a lot of the UNSC's male personnel would have been quite taken in by all this, but he doubted that she was in the mood for that. She was a war hardened soldier like he was and had no doubt seen a lot of brutal and difficult things growing up and he could easily respect that as well as her conviction and determination to do what she could within her power to protect her world and her people. These observations on her person made John willing to trust Kaelyn though he did wonder at times what to do with the way she acted at times around him every now and then.

He was not completely blind to be sure about the whole attraction thing, partly due to Cortana teasing him about it every chance she got. And if he was a regular man he could easily see just what would attract any man towards Kaelyn. In terms of physical beauty, long ears, eyebrows, and purple skin aside, Kaelyn had ALL the right traits to make any man and even some women sit up and take notice. But he hardly qualified as normal to say the least with all he had seen and done over the years since being replaced by his Flash Clone and taken into the Program. Still…he admired her for her dedication to duty, strength of will, courage, and more as well.

As she continued to admire the plants there before her, he decided to take the time to think on another matter, not this time with the mission that he had taken though. More into the fact one what he would do once he located the target in this world and stopped this Kael'thas from doing what he liked. Once he did this, he still had to deal with the task of finding a way home, and options apart from magic…as…confusing…as it was to him even now, were very limited.

(Maybe the Naaru can help…if what they said is true, then perhaps they can open a portal back to UNSC held space…still…)

John thought about it carefully and realized that he still needed transport back to the UNSC if he did make it there. He had to be in a planet that was still within the sphere of influence of the UNSC and hopefully get a communications system online and try to contact any UNSC vessel. He had done that back in Azeroth but he had already begun to suspect that this world was far beyond the range of any UNSC beacon and comm.. system, and even Cortana eventually agreed to that idea in private. They kept in mind that when they had tried to escape the fall of the rebuilt Installation after fighting Guilty Spark, the portal collapsed so they would have been sent anywhere beyond the sensors of the UNSC.

Or he could be in a new galaxy…as far fetched as it sounded, but he kept in mind that when the portal collapsed, he was aware that the Ark was beyond the galactic rim when he saw the map of the Ark last time. This made him worry and he can bet that Cortana might know of that possibility as well and thus it would have to be something that they would need to work on. This meant they were going to have to make some plans on how to map out the current star system that Azeroth's world is in so they can at the very least try and match it to the Milky Way map that they had still in the Dawn's data-banks which was thankfully uncompromised due to the intense security locks that were present in the Dawn still.

He turned to see that Kaelyn had finished her observation of the plants and was now on the move to look at any part of Honor Hold that she had yet to explore, thus he moved from his current place of observation to accompany the Night Elf female as the day wore on in this undeniably alien world that he and Cortana had come to. They were soon joined by Shandra who was quick to comment to what she had seen with her long time friend Kaelyn and John merely stood by the side to observe the whole thing take place before him and get used to seeing the two act like the friends that they honestly were.

They soon decided to drag him along with them and while he protested a bit, Cortana soon spoke to him in private.

"Why don't you just relax for the time being John, we're going to be leaving this place soon enough tomorrow so no sense not making the most of the day."

"Cortana…"

"Relax for now John, it's not like you've got anything better to do, unless you plan to go and get drunk and start a bar fight like what those old vids used to show."

"And waste time trying to explain myself to the local authorities? No thank you."

"Then go out and mingle, at least these two lovely ladies are people you already know and are not complete strangers to you and me as well. And you do happen to trust them after all so why not loosen up…not enough to lose your sense of self, but enough to show you are still in the core a human being right?"

John sighed at that, as this was similar to some of the recent discussions he had with Cortana, and as much as he might not say it, being able to socialize with others was nice. He was also quick to remind himself that the two had become good allies of his in this world and over time he had grown to trust them enough that he had accepted them despite their obvious difference from humans, and even the Covenant races who now made up the Separatists. The one thing that obviously made him worry still was how to deal with their willingness, or rather Shandra's thus far, with the flirting bit. Sure he had gotten his fair share of comments from female Marines though he usually ignored the whole things and he could, but from human like female beings? Not so much.

But he went on to join them and did not argue when the two Night Elves took him to another place that sold food out in the stalls to buy something good to eat while moving around in Honor Hold for a bit longer. The fact that both women seemed to be in higher spirits than normal seemed to make him realize that this was indeed a good way to unwind and he decided not to argue any more for the rest of the day. He only hoped that this did not come to the point that' something he was not that used to would happen and that he would have to work hard to deal with said problem.

Thankfully it seemed that both Kaelyn and Sandra were not going in that direction and this day was going to be a lot smoother since they were able to meet more of their race. John merely followed them and was also making sure to be watchful for anything that may catch him off guard.

Soon he was joined by several other members of the Alliance half of the party he commanded, namely the female Priest who had healed his injuries back in Shattrath City, and one of the High Elves who was part of the Dalaran delegation and it seemed that they too were getting a lot more relaxed in their current location and that was something that helped him observe them all while getting used to working with a diverse group in a place like this and a situation like this one.

And naturally he was asked to join them in the whole affair and he was willing to do just that to make sure that he was not going to be seen as being unable to socialize by Cortana. He could have gone to the leaders of Honor Hold to get a more thorough idea of things between the Alliance and the Horde but decided against it since he doubted they knew who he was and he was not in the mood to have to repeat himself here in this land before the people in charge.

…

It was soon going to be night, or what passed as night time in this unknown world and John knew that now would be a good time to get some sleep. He contacted Erin first to see how the Horde members of the group he was now leading in this world was doing right now in avoiding Alliance patrols out of Honor Hold. And so far it seemed that they were not in a dangerous situation such as encountering Alliance forces or patrols and as such, he was not too worried. He then told her to make sure that the others were all right and out of sight until they got back to them. They were going to sleep in the city and meet up with them once everything was settled.

Naturally the Blood Elf was none too pleased with the idea of him being alone with the Alliance delegates, two Night Elf women in particular and John could hear that in her tone. After assuring the Blood Elf that everything was going to be all right, he logged off, but not before Cortana teased him about his current situation with the elven ladies. He snorted at that and tried to convince his long time friend that he was not going to get to that stage any time soon since he had far more important things to do. He had a feeling that Cortana was hardly convinced, but he decided not to drag the issue on for the sake of his nerves and state of mind. And it seemed that despite her getting a lot of amusement from the whole thing, she was willing to let the matter slide for now and for that he was thankful.

Once the others checked in with him, they all decided to get some much needed shut eye and soon they began to look for rooms to bunk down as this was by far he most recognized inn/tavern in the whole of Honor Hold and they were all in the need for some much needed rest as tomorrow they would be very busy on matters that involved their soon to come mission to stop Kael'Thas and his followers as well as rescue the apparently captured Naaru.

The only ones who had decided to stay with the Spartan were his two Night Elf companions and he did not do anything to dissuade them since he did trust them. John took a room as well and since he had gotten enough money for the payment of all the rooms, he paid for the rooms. He moved up and looked the place over to see if there was anything that was out of place. He took the time to check every nook and cranny of the room to see if there were any physical listening devices, and also any type of magical listening charms, spells and whatnot as he had already learned that such things were possible especially with magic being the culprit.

Once his search was done, he also scanned his own MJOLNIR's internal computer system and communications system to determine if the armor was somehow transmitting data to the beings back in Shattrath City. While many trusted the Naaru here in this reality and they were indeed very benevolent, he was not going to give up his habit of being wary. Once he was able to scan it well his side, Cortana did the very same thing herself and also to her own computer code sequences and Riemann Matrix at the very same time. Soon she spoke to her partner once she was done with her examination and also her own scanning of the room.

"All right, room is clear in all ways, both in the tech area and the magical area. Plus neither me nor the Armor are sending data to anyone it and me are not supposed to, you can go grab some shut eye Chief."

"Thanks, can you watch over the place?"

"Sure thing, there's enough power on the helmet's solar cell for the flashlight system for me to contact you via speakers so you will be fine. You need some sleep anyway John so get as much sleep as you can. Something tells me we're going to need every last bit of it for what we're about to get ourselves into."

…

The next day…

John was awake hours before what could be possibly be early morning though he doubted it would be considered close to a regular morning. But he did not mind that as he quickly scanned the room and was happy that the bed was reinforced and able to handle his weight, and finding the room to be clear, he got his helmet and wore it. He got the system back to full power and as the systems came online, he was greeted by Cortana who was in a good mood.

"Nice to see that you are finally awake big guy, how was your sleep?"

"Not bad…better than most, anything happening while I was out?"

"Nothing and you should be glad to know that no one tried to go in here and catch you unawares, and while I helped play a part in it as best I could, you can bet that Kaelyn and Sandra were helping in the defense of your room."

"What do you mean?"

Cortana chuckled and she replied.

"Go outside and see for yourself big guy."

John did just that as he got his helmet and then got his MA5C Assault Rifle and locked it on his back and opened the door and then looked around. He saw that both Kaelyn and Sandra were on either side of his door. The two Night Elf females looked as if they were sleeping but he could tell that they were alert and ready to spring into action if they felt something was out of the ordinary. The Spartan raised his eyebrow at that and then spoke to Cortana as he moved back into his room.

"Just how long were they there?"

"The whole night, I detected them when they came into the room to see if anything was going on with you. As soon as they were done watching you sleep peacefully, they headed back out and they stayed there. The reason I knew they were there was…what mom would call, female intuition and I was right."

"I see…I guess I should wake them up."

"Do it gently, considering their posture, they might accidentally think they are under attack."

John did that and thankfully his actions did not get misinterpreted by the two, Kaelyn and Sandra smiled and the two of them greeted him and he did likewise. Once that was done, he asked Kaelyn to check on the others and the Night Elf did just that and that left him with Sandra and the female Night Elf was pleased to have some time with the man. She started things off by speaking to the man.

"How was your sleep Spartan?"

"Been better, how about the two of you?"

The two smiled a bit and replied that they were all right and did not have anything happen to them while they had been there outside of his room. John was not entirely convinced and had spoken to Cortana to find out if the two Night Elves were lying to him or not. He only relented when the A.I confirmed that they were telling the truth, and she had not detected any sign of injuries on them, and they were not acting as if they were injured and trying to hide it. That was soon forgotten as he and the two headed down to get some food and they were soon met by the ot rest of the Alliance members. After he had paid for their food, though the others willingly contributed funds to pay for their own meals went to gather supplies and also get as much information as they could manage. He also checked up on the Horde members, and it was good news on his part to learn that no one from the Alliance had found them yet.

Thankfully throughout all of this, the band of Alliance soldiers he had dealt with before had not shown up and had caused trouble for him and the others. Proof at least that their Dwarven leader had kept his promise to keep his people on a short leash and for that John was pleased since he was not in the mood to waste any more time with drunken members of other groups.

…

As the day wore on, he managed to get a more updated map of Outland and had Cortana scan the map and store it in for reference on the off chance the map they had was destroyed, ruined, or lost. No sense not having a backup map in his head and that of his MJOLNIR's database for him to use when things went bad. Once the map reading was done and they compiled whatever data the could get, John asked them to finish whatever shopping for supplies they all needed to do as they were soon going to move out and enter Horde Territory.

This naturally did not sit very well with the members of the Alliance group with John and Cortana but they decided not to make too big an issue out of it. They had to trust the man who was leading them right now and all of them knew that they had very serious skills to offer into the field on what can possibly be a very dangerous mission for all of them to be taking part in at this very moment. That did not mean however that they were happy with the idea of being in the land of the other faction that technically they were in something of a cold war in.

The Horde members on the other hand were very eager to finally be in territory that was familiar to them. The Orc members were more interested in this land as they were familiar that this land was once the home of their own people. Many of them however were born many decades after the Orcs left Draenor so they did not have much memory for the land. The other Horde members took thing differently and for different reasons, John and Cortana were more than willing to do what they could to help keep the peace between the Horde and the Alliance members of this group of theirs. But their real concern was the other members of the Horde party who were not natives of this land. The Trolls, Blood Elves, Tauren, and the Undead would not be able to feel comfortable here in this land, even more so for the Alliance as well.

All that he and the A.I could hope for was that they were going to end this quest soon and make sure that it was going to be a chance to end whatever new threat was going to come their way. In the meantime they were going to make sure that when they left Alliance lands here in Outland they were going to be all right and find out what they can to help stop the incoming danger that came with the kidnapping of this Naaru and the plans that the former prince of the Blood Elves had in mind for the rest of the world of Azeroth.

The Spartan decided to make sure that everything was ready for their leaving Honor Hold but not before he asked one of the Alliance members to go back to the world of Azeroth to see how things were fairing for the world that they all had left behind earlier, and if there was any possibility that Kael'thas and his servants were making new attacks on the world of Azeroth while they were here in this world since it was not unlikely in the Spartan's mind that the prince would make such a move. Risky to be sure if one was not yet at full strength and when every other power was now well aware of one's dark intent. But also a worthwhile gambit if you have the right target in mind, the right number of people, the right set of skills, experience, equipment and the determination to do so.

And if what he learned of the former Prince of the Blood Elves was any indication, defeat by the hands of this…Lich King aside, Kael had that in spades. And if what he experienced with those Fel Blood Elves who injected themselves with Demon blood was any indication, they were MORE than willing to do anything to achieve victory. That was why he was going to make sure that he had some eyes at least since even with the copy of Cortana holding the fort in their base back on Azeroth, it was limited in it's operational window and doctrine.

…

Days later…

John checked the map that he had acquired concerning their next destination, the Orc that they had to look for was naturally in territory that was between the Alliance and Horde Lands. But even if that place was not owned by either faction, the residents of that place were anything but friendly. The very name of it also made the Spartan feel even more uneasy and the rumors pertaining to the location did not make things any better. Rumors about such things and the kinds of…sentient life that inhabited places with names like this were not usually considered as viable information by John, but after all he had seen since landing on Azeroth and coming here, he was willing to be a bit more receptive to details no matter how odd they would sound to him and Cortana at first.

For now they were going to be in Horde land, and the Spartan knew that this trip was going to be a different situation altogether so he would have to be ready for anything. He and Cortana were also aware that there was the fact that the Alliance members of this group they were leading were not going to be the least bit welcomed in Horde Land so they would have to be out of sight, just as the Horde members were when they were still in Alliance held land in this place. He also wondered just what sort of Orc was the one that he and the others had to find about the Cypher of Damnation. The name alone was something of concern for the Spartan so that told him that the Orc in question must have some rather deep ties to the artifact.

As he looked over everything, and recalling just what had transpired ever since coming here, he hoped that he lived long enough to return home. He knew that even with the War over, there were still going to be things done there. Those duties would naturally include peace keeping efforts, reconstruction, relocation of displaced colonists, and more vital tasks in the rebuilding of the UNSC's shattered interstellar empire. He also felt that the Insurrection would come back now that they had no more reason to hide from the UNSC and they no doubt would make the most of the period to rebuild and go back to their old ways.

All he could hope for was the chance to have a portal form and somehow send him back to his own reality. He had seen enough of the portals to know that despite it still being something that flew in the face of physics, then it was his only option. The only technological equivalent he knew that could match these portals was the teleportation grid found on all the Forerunner structures he had seen thus far. And on a much larger scale, the Slipspace portals made by ships back home.

If it could connect to a world that was in the UNSC, then it would naturally a point in the right direction. But right now he had to do what he could to put an end to whatever plans the former Blood Elf Prince Kael had in store for Azeroth. That train of thought however moved into another direction as he knew that if everything he saw was true, then portals worked both ways. Meaning that whatever was going through the portal was bound to bring something back…and THAT troubled him as he began to think of the implications of that particular train of thought but he decides not to think too deeply on that for now since there had to be more data on hand before he could make a more informed choice on whether pursuing the idea of learning how to open a portal through the use of Magic was a good idea.

…

It was not long however that his sensors picked up something that definitely was not anything he had any familiarity with. He quickly stopped and the rest of the group noticed this and soon enough the Spartan took out one of his SRS-99D AM S2 Sniper Rifle and moved forward and his posture was quick to tell the others to take his action seriously as all of them took out their weapons and those who could use their magic got ready for battle.

It did not take very long for him to finally spot what had alarmed his senses…a pair of humans fighting off the native beings that called this Outland home, thankfully none of them were Fel Elves, but that did not mean that they were not dangerous in the least. John zoomed in and soon spotted the pair, with his sensors that were attuned now to the various forms of magic on the land of Azeroth picking up the signs that said that the man was using Holy magic while the woman was using Arcane Magic. Judging by the way the man fought, his clothing/armor, and weapons he would be a Paladin, the woman was wearing the clothes of a Mage and the unleashing of fireballs from her staff and hands confirmed it to the Spartan.

He had no idea who they were and what they were doing here in what would be considered Horde territory but he might as well find out. He quickly located the most common threat to them and pulled the trigger. The roar of the Sniper Rifle was heard and soon the bullet sailed through the air and slammed right into the head of one of the Fel Orcs that had been attacking the pair. John wasted little time and routed his targeting to the next set, firing another round just as the others came to see just what he was shooting at.

They soon spotted the Paladin and the Sorceress and the Fel Orcs heading their way, and the same could be said for the Fel Orcs as they roared out their anger and attacked the new arrivals. John fired another shot and this time around killed two Fel Orcs with one round as the massive .50 AP round tore into their throats and cut their windpipes hard and deep, dropping them as the others soon attacked. The Paladin and Sorceress had no idea just who had come to their aid, but they were not going to complain in the slightest as this gave them a chance to catch their breath and then they moved to join their rescuers. They were not too sure about the Horde members they saw there, but the fact that the Alliance group were not attacking the Horde there was something worth keeping in mind.

John placed aside the Sniper Rifle and moved to the more suited Battle Rifle and began to pick his shots as he was soon joined by Kaelyn and Sandra as the two Night Elves fired their arrows from their bows to hit their targets dead center with arrows. Erin was not going to let the two show her up as she moved in and engaged the nearest Fel Orc in battle and soon cut down with several precise cuts her first foe of the day. She was not going to be alone for long as the other members of the Horde began to close the gap and fight the Fel Orcs.

…

The other members of the Alliance wasted little time to take down the Fell Orcs and so did the Horde members who were now deep into the fight, but it was the Orc members of the Horde that did the most damage to the Fel Orcs. John saw this while reloading his weapon and he had no doubt Cortana did likewise. He had read enough of the Orcs' history to know why the Horde would not take kindly to their former kindred, and it was something he could relate to easily enough.

After all…there was one among the Spartan IIs who went rogue among them.

Soren…

Even recalling his former Spartan sibling years after what happened made his blood boil. While he could to some extent understand Soren's reason for leaving and siding with the Innies, he could never forgive his former brother for his betrayal and siding with the Insurrection. The situation with the Orcs and the Fel Orcs reminded him of that to a certain extent and he could understand why many who have embraced the new Horde look upon their now Fel former kindred with disdain, anger, and horror. No doubt a reminder of the actions taken by their kindred who were the grip of greed and lust for power unaware that they were going to be nothing more than expendable pawns for the Legion to use.

He place those thoughts aside for now however as more of the Orcs came at them and he had to fight more with the others to end the threats before all of them. One Fel Orc was gunned down by him and another managed to lunge at him with a spear, he side stepped the weapon and he smashed a side kick to the ribs of the Orc, the sounds of broken bones and the scream of rage was heard from the Fel Orc and soon that was ended as John fired a three round burst into the face of the Orc in question. He turned and fired a burst into another attacker before he side stepped another attack from a secondary attacker and in the same motion took out a Combat Knife and quickly stabbed the Orc at the back of the head, severing the neck bone right at the base of the skull, killing his second attacker very quickly before he used his Battle Rifle to kill yet another Fel Orc while the rest were attacked by the others.

They were not alone though as another band of Fel Orcs came out from the woodwork to engage them all. But John was quickly able to spot them alongside the others as he quickly told the combined Alliance and Horde forces to break into two bands. One to continue with helping the two humans and the other to fight off the incoming force of Orcs that had appeared spoiling for a fight, a fight that was now in full swing as the other half of John's little team were now engaged. So far though they had not lost anyone but the Spartan had no doubt that there would be injuries since no one got away scot free from injuries in a fight.

John quickly unleashed several more bursts from his Battle Rifle and then moved to using his Sniper Rifle when he spotted some of the Fel Orc Warlocks, now recognizing them for the aura of magic they released and this he focused on them first while letting the others deal with the regular Fel Orcs. This was indeed going to be a very long day for him and the others, but at least they were going to make good time and possibly cut down on the number of threats that resided in this place for anyone to deal with if they came in the same direction they did.

…

Soon it was not long before many of the Fel Orcs were slain by both the Alliance and the Horde, but as John predicted, they did not leave the fight without some of them getting injuries so John and the others would need to stop for now and heal. John quickly had some of the ones who could still use their weapons and be able to move to secure the area and help provide security and tend to the wounded members of their forces here right now.

Naturally he decided to talk to the two and hopefully find out more about why were they out here on their own. Not to mention they could at the very least provide some intel on the land and what kind of dangers were there. Not to mention they might also have some useful information regarding the current actions of Kael and his loyalist Fel Blood Elves. There was no doubt in his mind that at this very moment the Alliance and Horde were getting ready for this incoming war with the former leader of the Blood Elves and he, reluctant or not was already part of it.

He also took the time to study the Fel Orcs he had fought with to allow Cortana to run some DNA tests later as well as some more data that he felt was going to be useful in the right time and the right moment. The Orcs were very similar to the regular Orcs but this was the first time he had been able to see one himself. And already he could see just why these Orcs were not seen with good intent by their kindred, their bodies radiated a lot of the energy that he and Cortana now acquainted with the ones using Fel Energy and the biological changes done to the Fel Orcs, compared to the original Orcs was very obvious to the two of them.

"They definitely underwent some serious biological changes, all of which seem to focus on increased speed, strength, pain tolerance, and more. If I did not see this for myself, I get the feeling these Fel Orcs were similar to how the UNSC created the first Spartans and then you and the others."

John growled mentally at that as there was some truth there but the idea of being turned into…this disgusted the Spartan.

"We're nothing like them Cortana."

"Never said you were big guy, still the principle is there, but we can discuss this later, we have guests to talk to,"

And sure enough, the Paladin and the Mage was walking towards them and thus John placed aside his weapons to show to them that he was not a danger to them, even though he was with Alliance members. That was simply because he had Horde members with him too and that odd sight was naturally bound to get attention from anyone who did not expect this to happen unless something REALLY important was up.

…

To be continued…

…

Author's Notes:

Here we are again with this story and I am happy that it has finally been brought back to life and I hope that this will show that it is far from dead, though naturally this is going to be cut short due to a lot of things going on recently that has bitten off massive chunks of my time here in front of the PC.

The chapter merely deals with the situation that John finds himself in at the Alliance held fortress of Honor Hold and also allows Kaelyn, Sandra, and some other characters in the Alliance delegation to be alone wit the Master Chief. You can bet that the Night Elf Archer is going to be enjoying the time with John and no doubt she would also use this time to make her move on him.

Though you can bet that it will not always be easy to do with the location they are in, and I do plan to have some more interesting interactions with the others in the Alliance group. The same can happen with the Horde faction once they go to the main Horde fortress in Draenor. That will mean that Erin will have her turn and you can bet that she will be more than willing to take all the time she has on hand to get close to John.

And what will John be doing in all of these moments you ask? One such thing is trying to focus on the job while also getting his mind wrapped around the idea that he will soon be facing actual demons in battle is one thing. Not those demons created in games, movies, or books, but actual demons. Second is dealing with this new world he and Cortana are in and getting an idea of just how important it will be to defeat whatever plans the Legion and Kael'thas have in their minds.

As for the possibility of the women who are interested in John making more serious moves after this arc in WOW/Halo, there will be more and you can bet that it can get very interesting and vocal.

...

I also wish to apologize in advance for the fact it might be old data but I did put this story on ice for a while and due to the fact that I have way too much data in my head and I needed to flush it all out.

…

For the benefit of the naysayers of this story, here is the deal so far. The ONLY way that they could be able to access all the vital data is if they somehow hack and decrypt all the data and literally tear the ship into pieces. I cannot understand why is it people complain about that when you have to remember that the data of the UNSC is VIRTUAL COMPUTER DATA!

Not the kind one finds in scrolls or books for crying out loud! THERE ARE NO COMPUTERS IN WOW AT THIS TIME IN THE STORY! OR ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER AT THIS TIME!

And there ARE security locks for the whole base and also the archive room. Do you honestly think that I did not factor that into my plans? I'm not that blind you know…

…

And the vehicles…seriously? Being able to operate Steam Tanks, Gyrocopters, and the vehicles seen in WOW DOES NOT translate to being able to drive UNSC vehicles. The tech difference between the two realms of vehicles is so high it's like trying to compare a Volkswagen Beetle to a Lamborghini Diablo. So stop bringing it up, it's bloody embarrassing to even discuss that!

There is also the fact that I do plan to have the town become it's own entity in the future. It will be left behind at some point in the story and it will remain that way. And will play a part in the remaining arcs of the story which will one day end with the Chief finally gaining a chance to go home. But the question is how?

That will have to wait until the time comes for me to end this story once I am done injecting in the Mists and Pandera expansion. Once that is done, then this story arc naturally comes to an end. All I can say is that in the end of this arc that includes the Burning Crusade, John is now one step closer to achieving his goal of either being rescued or going home by his own means. Though to be honest I am leaning more on latter than the former since I have recently gotten some ideas into my head for the return home idea.

…

As for the unrealistic things the Master Chief has done, I am confused by that since all the things he has done already in his reality would also be called unrealistic by other people's own standards. And keep in mind that the only time we learn of the super human feats of the Master Chief is in the movies, novels, anime, and comics. We don't know about them in the game since we don't get to have the Chief cut loose. Only in Halo 4 does it happen as the game is now more athletic and fluid.

And he will not be invincible either here, he will gain new wounds, scars, and more here in this world. I had only focused on him getting used to this new world in the chapters and now we go to the more serious details as he will be taking part in everything in WOW. BC, WOTLK, Cataclysm, and MoP. John will bleed, he will feel pain, he will be tested in ways he was not tested before and he will not leave unscarred. But he will not give up either.

And for the whole 'Spartans are from Earth' thing is over, get it? Over! It's been done already in several chapters I will no longer mention it so don't worry about so bloody much.

…

Will I included elements from the Novels and Comics that have been recently released since this story does take place before the canon events of Halo 4?

Not too sure about that and I am still busy reading all the data to make sure I get it all right. I have sworn not to make a new Halo story until the new Reclaimer Arc is over and done with so don't ask. I have no desire to write any new Halo stories right now simply because it would be wrong for me to make a new story using the Reclaimer saga until it is over so I have all my facts straight. This is why most if not all of my Halo stories take place and the end of the triology. That way everyone already gets the idea.

However the previously stated Halo ideas I have are not gone and are actually going to be made in the near future. I will personally make the prologue myself to show if and when I am going to make the story and what to expect from it

…

As for Lemons…I have said it before so do I really need to repeat that old mess again for you? So far Kaelyn is still high on the score board in my book along with Erin and possibly Sandra and Jaina. They are the most promising thus far of the women who might develop an interest in John, but they are NOT yet set in stone.

When the time comes to make the lemons in question I sure as hell hope I have not lost my touch in writing decent lemons. Though I have to admit I am very much looking forward to that part.

But until then, NO lemons for now…maybe a lime or two but that's going to be it for now.

…

On the next chapter and the chapters to follow, he will go through the Burning Crusades, but will be doing his best to help and will face off with Kil'Jaeden and Kael'thas with others who are going to fight with all they had so John is not going to be the lone star here, and he will not go away from these encounters unharmed.

This is why I took so long to update…the Burning Crusade is a major event arc in WOW and I have to make sure I get a lot of it right once I go back to fully working on this chapter. I do not want to go in half cocked with ideas and only find out I royally fucked up on the home stretch of the story, that is something I desperately wish to avoid.

Until then, this story is now on ice so don't bother me about it for a while as I get my thoughts organized. I am trying to update all my non Halo works here and once I am satisfied that they are done, I am going back here…there is TOO MUCH Halo data in my noggin right now and while I am a major fan of the game, I do have to let my brain relax in light of all the new data that has been shot into my head for that.


End file.
